A Little Less Conversation, a Little More Action Please
by Andrew Joshua Talon
Summary: How to reconcile all the DCAU shows, the Animated Teen Titans, and put Stephanie Brown, Damian Wayne, Jason Todd and Cassandra Cain into the DCAU. Enjoy!
1. Chapter 1

**_A Little Less Conversation, a Little More Action Please_**

A DCAU Plus fanfiction project

 _This adventure begins just after the Justice League pilot "Secret Origins"._

* * *

 **Bruce**

* * *

It was sloppy. Damn sloppy. The kind of mistake he'd shout at Dick or Tim over for hours after. Know your limits. Three days without sleep, fighting an alien invasion? Too much for anyone. Even him. Especially while alone and your potential backup was scattered across the city.

"Wakey wakey, Batman~," chuckled a sinister voice through the haze. Batman blinked, his eyes regaining focus. He was tied up, hanging by his wrists several feet above a bare floor, in an abandoned candy factory. And leering up at him was Joker, who looked almost relieved.

"Not to imply you've been laying down on the job, Batsy! After all, you've been _so_ busy away from home! Dealing with aliens! Saving the world! I thought I'd throw you a welcome home party!" The mad clown chuckled, and held out a bottle of champagne. He opened it with a pop, and poured the suds into a flute. "Congratulate you on forming the Super Friends! It's so nice to see you expanding your circle of friends!"

Batman's eyes narrowed. "Is that why you had a fake me and fake Robin running around, Joker? Feeling lonely?"

Joker downed one of the flutes of champagne, before he spat it out. He blinked in confusion. "Moi? No!" Joker shook his head and snorted. "Really Batsy, presumptuous aren't we? My life doesn't revolve around _you,_ you know!" He laughed. "Besides! I could do better than two pieces of jail bait! My boys outside can verify!" Joker grinned wider. "Now, the first thing on the itinerary..." He held out his hand, and a small man in clown makeup tumbled up and handed him a clipboard. "Thank you Gaggy. Yes, let's see... Bobbing for piranhas! Yes, yes. A good old acid bath, then putting you into the taffy stretcher! Trust me, a man as uptight as you could use it, HA!"

There was a boom outside, at least four. And the sounds of a great deal of confused men all yelling. Gunfire broke out. Joker sighed.

"Oh poo. One of your kids has shown up to spoil my fun, huh? Well! The more the merrier, I say! Gaggy, be a sport and look after our Dear Dark Knight?" The Joker ran out, pulling a gun. He vanished behind a large rusting hulk of a machine, while Gaggy glared up at Batman. Batman glared back, already thinking frantically.

How many men were out there? A full frontal assault by Nightwing and Batgirl-That was suicide. They couldn't be that reckless. He had to have taught them better!

Out of the corner of his eyes, he saw it: A small, female form slipping through the window and sliding down a rope. Batman made no further movement, keeping his gaze on Gaggy. The little clown scowled back, and held up his gun threateningly. On his tiny form, the gun was huge and comical-But clearly deadly.

"Jest a little interuption, Batfreak, then we'll have some fun," Gaggy chuckled. The small form crept from shadow to shadow, being careful and quiet. They were sloppy and slow by his standards, but Batman could recognize they were fully focused. Getting closer... Closer... They stepped on broken glass, and Gaggy spun around. He scanned the area with his eyes and gun.

"Who's there?" He demanded. "Come out! Show yerself!"

There was more tinkling of broken glass, further away and at a high angle. Gaggy immediately aimed in that direction, and opened fire. The bangs of his machine gun thundered in the gaping darkness of the abandoned factory, but nothing emerged. Gaggy walked towards the source of the noise, past a broken down conveyor belt where several of the Joker's weapons and gadgets had been carelessly piled.

Gaggy scaned around, his eyes going back to Batman. "If it's one o' yer kids, tell 'em to back off or I'll-GACK!" Gaggy's eyes widened and his hair stood on end. He shook and convulsed, before falling to the floor limply. The female figure rose from underneath the conveyor belt, and pulled one of the Joker's weaponized joy buzzers off her gloved hand.

"Can't believe he leaves these things around," she muttered. She ran into the light, and Batman got a look at his would be rescuer: A teenaged girl, maybe fourteen to seventeen years old, athletic build, long wild spiky blonde hair and blue eyes, dressed in a cheap Halloween-grade Robin costume with quite a few patched improvements. She grinned up at him, grabbing a ladder and carrying it over nearby him.

"Hello! Friendly neighborhood Robin here!" She said cheerfully, climbing up. She stood on the top of the ladder, wobbling a bit, before she jumped up and grabbed his arm. She hung from it, making them swing, and he grunted. "Sorry! Hang on..." She produced a knife and began fiddling with the complex cuffs holding him up. "I gave my Batgirl all the rope we had left; She's outside, causing a big distraction. Which usually would be my job because I'm loud and dressed in bright red but she insisted on it. Anyway, this stupid thing-"

"A grade six interlocking cuffing mechanism," Batman identified. Robin nodded, fiddling with the device.

"Yeah, these things. They're such a _pain,_ but I know how to unlock them. So, what's your name?"

Batman stared at the babbling blonde. "Batman."

The Girl Robin rolled her eyes and snorted. "Sure you are," she said condescendingly, "and _I'm_ Sailor Moon."

Batman raised an eyebrow under his mask. "I'm actually Batman."

"Yeah, look buddy, just because your costume is better than mine doesn't mean you're the real thing. Especially," and here Robin wagged her finger in his face, "when you get captured like some punk ass loser."

Batman continued to stare. "Really?"

Robin nodded, getting the knots undone. "Really! The _real_ Batman would never have fallen into such a trap and would already be out of here, without needing any help from me!" The restraints clicked loose, and Batman dropped. He landed easily on the floor in a crouch, still woozy but able to keep his balance, while Robin swung from the chains overhead. She swung back onto the ladder, shakily... Then lost her balance and fell backwards.

"EEP!"

Robin landed on his back, making Batman grunt. Robin blushed, and got off of him. She rubbed the back of her head with one hand, while rubbing his back with her other. "Um, thanks. Anyway, we should be going-"

A tall thug in clown make up crashed through the door and slammed facefirst into the rusting hulk. He groaned and slid down. A moment later, a slight girl in a Batman Halloween costume emerged. Her suit though had much more extensive modifications-A facemask, goggles, spraypaint of dark blues and darker grays for camoflague, and only the yellow outline of a bat on her chest.

Robin scowled. "Batgirl! We were supposed to get out! Not show off"

The Bat-girl tilted her head. "Too much fun," she said in clipped English, making it clear it was not her first language.

Batman blinked. "Your... Friend?"

"She's super cool," Robin said happily. "But she can't help showing off."

"Neither can I," the Joker called out.

Maniacal laughter filled the room, and they all looked back. Joker came in through the door, grinning as he held out his gun.

"So! Recruiting Girl Scouts now, Bat Brain? That's adorable! Though honestly, how any little waif like you could hurt a fly is a question for when you get to-"

The Bat-Girl _moved,_ knocking the gun out of Joker's hand and, before he'd even had time to be surprised, landed a kick upside his chin and a punch into his gut. The clown staggered back, slamming against the wall with a grunt. He gaped in shock at the Bat-Girl, who advanced on him menacingly. But Joker was resourceful, and a moment later he had a can of peanuts out.

"Think fast!" He gasped, and ribbons and confetti burst out of the can. They wrapped around Batgirl like coiling snakes, and she hopped back, struggling to get free. Joker advanced on her, pulling out his hand buzzer with sadism in his eyes. Batman struggled against his exhaustion and soreness, lunging to his feet, but Joker would get there first.

"End of the line, Gogo," he hissed. He looked up to see a blonde and red blur tackle him, and he staggered back. His eyes bulged again as Robin kneed him in the groin. "OOF! YOU LITTLE-!"

"You suck, Joker!" Robin shouted, leaping back and narrowly escaping the clown's swinging arm. Seeing her predicament, Batman lunged for his utility belt on the conveyor. If he could just reach it before the mad clown got his hands on her-!

"You suck and your sense of humor sucks! You're a crap comedian and a crap supervillain with lousy jokes!" Robin shouted. The Joker seethed as the girl ran behind the hulk of busted, aging machinery. He chased after her.

"YOU WORTHLESS SLAG-SHUT YER MOUTH!" He produced a length of multi-colored rope, and threw it like a lariat. It lassoed Robin, and she yelped as he yanked her off her feet. Joker laughed and ran up to her, kicking her in her stomach as she laid flat. He grinned down at her, feeling triumphant.

"Not so smart mouthed now, huh brat? What have you got to say for yourself?"

Robin grinned back up at him. Joker blinked. In his rage over her insults, he'd forgotten something important-

Which hit him like a fist across his temple, then his solar plexus, his groin, his chin, and finally the back of his neck. He collapsed into a heap, blacking out.

Robin looked up at Bat-Girl and Batman, and mocked scowled. "You... Took your time!" She wheezed, catching her breath. Batgirl shrugged and untied her. Batman helped her to her feet.

The three of them shuffled out into the courtyard of the factory. Batman scanned the many fallen (but still breathing) bodies littering the pavement of the enclosed parking lot. Robin frowned.

"Fourteen, fifteen, sixteen... Nuts, I miscounted," she said. Bat-Girl waved her hand, as if it was no big deal. "Well, yeah, but how many more smoke bombs did you have to use?"

Bat-Girl held out a very empty canvas bag, and Robin sighed. "Great. Now we're out," she grumbled. Batman pressed a control in his belt.

"Don't worry. I can get you more," Batman said. Robin turned and glared at him, and shook her finger.

"No way! No more playing hero for you!" She scolded. "Seriously, this was dangerous!"

"And yet you're still doing it?" Batman asked. Robin looked at Cass, and they exchanged nods. She looked back to Batman.

"Of course we are," she said. "Someone's gotta do it! And we work pretty well together!"

"You made a lot of mistakes," he pointed out. Robin shrugged.

"Yeah, well..."

"You could use some instruction," he said. The familiar roar of an engine filled his ears, and the Batmobile came around the corner. It pulled up to them, and the cockpit hatch slid open. Batman walked over to the waiting vehicle, as Robin's jaw nearly hit the pavement.

"Buh...?" She muttered. Batman hopped into the vehicle, and tapped a few buttons. Something buzzed in Robin's belt, and she pulled out a cellphone. She stared at it, and then back at Batman.

"I just texted you an address," he said smoothly. "Meet me there tomorrow morning, 6 am sharp. We'll start training. For both of you."

"... How did you get my cellphone number?" Robin asked. Batman smirked.

"I'm Batman. And you two?"

Robin stared at him. She cleared her throat.

"... I'm... Stephanie Brown," Robin muttered, clearly torn between embarrassment and astonishment. She gestured over to Bat-Girl, who waved. "That's Cassandra Cain."

Batman stared at the Bat-Girl, who stared back. "Doesn't talk much, does she?"

"No talk. Action," she said. Batman nodded.

"Good. Again. 6 am. Sharp." The hatch slid shut, and the Batmobile roared off into the night. Batman watched the two girls stare after them as he departed, and he turned up the gain on the bugs he'd planted on them both.

" _... You knew it was the real Batman the whole time, didn't you?"_ Stephanie gasped. Cass's response was inaudible. " _I can't believe-I called the real Batman a punk ass loser-We saved the real Batman from the Joker-OhmyGodthisissoawesome!"  
_  
Batman sighed. He might regret it... But having these two under his supervision would be better for them and him in the long run. He had a feeling that with the Justice League, he was going to be far busier.

And these two... Warranted checking into.

* * *

 **A little fun in the DCAU, but introducing some things from the DCU. Enjoy!**


	2. Chapter 2

**_A Little Less Conversation, a Little More Action Please_**

A DCAU Plus fanfiction project

 _This adventure begins just after the Justice League pilot "Secret Origins"._

* * *

 **Dick**

* * *

It was funny how alien invasions could fade away in priority when your love life suddenly got complicated. Maybe that's what it took to be in their line of work: To see the difficult and fantastic as something to be overcome, and the mundane and ordinary as alien and strange.

It wasn't the first time this had happened, either, to Richard "Dick" Grayson: Formally Robin, then Nightwing.

The night of the Imperium invasion, he'd been in Jump City to reconnect with the rest of the former Teen Titans: The core originals. Victor Stone, Cyborg. Garfield Logan, the Beast Boy (who was going by Changeling now). Rachel Roth, Raven; and-of course- Koriand'r, Starfire. Their obligations kept them apart, but they still found the time to meet back up at the Tower every few months. They had just settled down to pizza like the old days, to talk about what they were up to.

Garfield had gotten some roles in Hollywood movies after his successful stint in scifi television, and he hinted that some producers were interested in the story of the original Teen Titans. Victor was pumped, though Raven, Star and himself were more dubious about the prospect.

Rachel was working in the realm of magic, doing jobs that Doctor Fate was too busy to handle, as well as mentoring young _homo magi._ She seemed to enjoy it.

Victor was maintaining the T-Tower, but not alone: The computer space on the tower was massive and its capabilities huge, and many corporations, governments and organizations rented time on its mainframe to conduct experiments and run new programs, everything from curing cancer to inventing new kinds of flip flops. This, along with coaching youth sports teams, kept Victor busy but happy.

Kori was acting as a diplomatic official between her homeworld and Earth. Ever since the Darkseid invasions, Earth governments had been looking to make connections with other worlds and Tamaran was only too happy to exchange the debris from alien invaders for basic medical and food supplies. She had grown more regal, and more beautiful, her kindness still radiating from her like a small sun. She still greeted him, almost shyly, like they were meeting again for the first time.

And Dick? Dick was establishing himself in Bludhaven. Working with the local police, stopping criminals, and making a name for himself. He occasionally dropped back in Gotham to check on Alfred and Bruce. Occasionally to see Barbara, and to help with Tim. The reconciliation between himself and Bruce was difficult... But he was starting to see that maybe the old man wasn't the monster he'd grown into in his mind's eye.

It was all so tranquil... And then the trouble alerts had begun. Not just from Jump City, but all over the world. Alien invaders, screaming klaxons and red lights. It was so familiar.

So familiar, there was only one thing he could really do. He stood up, and pointed to the door.

"Titans, _**GO!**_ "

That night had been fraught with peril and danger. The invaders had cut off Earth from the sun with their construct towers, so Starfire was weakened. Their shapeshifting was a match for Garfield's-Better, in fact. And they were telepaths. Yet Jump City had not fallen. They sent wave after wave of enemies after them, and they'd triumphed over every challenge... Until they were finally overwhelmed, and had to retreat to the Tower.

They had prepared for a last stand. The defenses of the Tower, powerful sonic cannons based on Cyborg's own weapons, were sweeping the enemy from the skies and seas as fast as Victor could control them. Nightwing had broken out his old Robin arsenal and shared it with everyone, using his old R-Cycle as a bomb against a tripod. Garfield had gone full Beast mode, fighting like a crazed berserker. Raven unleashed the full power of her arcane magics, sending the invaders into portals to unspeakable realms and unleashing demon fire. And Starfire herself was an angel of death: Starbolts flying from her hands and eyes as she flew here and there, holding nothing back.

But it wasn't going to last. It wasn't going to hold. That certain feeling in the back of his mind, honed by experience, kept saying the same thing: _We're not going to win this.  
_  
Well. If they weren't going to win this, they would at least make sure the Imperium never forgot the Teen Titans.

Then... The artificial cloud cover broke. The sunshine poured down. Dick had to squint through his mask as the sun reappeared. The Imperium creatures screamed and burned in the radiance of Sol, melting away and leaving only smoke, ashes, and exhausted heroes.

Garfield was the first to speak, as usual: "Did... Did we just... _Win?"_ He whispered.

"Don't jinx it," Raven murmured back. They all looked at each other. Victor's lip twitched. It was all over from there as they fell into loud, hysterical laughter, holding and hugging. Dick found his arms filled with a joyful Starfire, who grasped his face and kissed him deeply. And Dick couldn't find it in him to resist, even as Rachel, Garfield, and Victor cat called.

It was a far cry from the kiss they'd shared in Tokyo, one that was awkward and difficult to speak about for both of them. The kiss they had before Dick had gone back to Gotham, and Starfire back to her people. It was an adult kiss, with all that implied.

And that night, nobody bothered them when they snuck off to their old rooms in the Tower. For that, Dick would always be grateful. The next few days were filled with rebuilding and activity, but Starfire was never far from Dick's thoughts. Nor he from hers.

The fourth morning after the invasion brought with it news-And a visitor. A visitor who had the decency to knock, for once. Dick opened the doors, and stared into the eyes of his father-The Batman.

"... May I come in?" He asked, almost politely. Dick nodded, and waved him in. He offered a chair, out of habit. Out of habit, Batman declined. Dick shrugged, and got to work on breakfast.

"I heard about what you all did here," Batman began without preamble, as Dick's back was to him. Dick nodded.

"I heard about what you guys did, too," he said. He smiled over his shoulder. "A team of superheroes, huh? Never heard of that before."

Batman _almost_ smiled. "You could try to take the credit if you wanted."

Dick shrugged, scrambling some eggs and bacon. "Nah. Wouldn't want to get a swelled head-Too many role models in my life with that." He scooped the food out onto a plate, and slid it to his father. Batman took the fork, and wolfed it down fast. Dick winced.

"Geez... How long since you ate or slept? Can I count it in hours or do I have to go to days?"

"Been busy," Batman said, only after swallowing. "Got a space station out of decommission for a base. The Watchtower."

Dick nodded. "Right," he said. "So... Is this the part where you ask me to join your Justice League?"

Batman was silent for a moment. "The thought had occurred," he admitted. "I couldn't think of anyone better suited for it."

Dick flushed. He was appreciating Bruce learning how to express his pride in ways other than grunts or abstract gestures. "Thanks..."

"But I want you to do something more important," Batman said. Dick frowned.

"What?"

Batman produced a few file folders, and set them down on the counter in front of Dick. Dick scanned through them, his eyebrow rising.

"I want you to reform the Titans permanently," Batman stated. "Gather the old members, get new recruits. Train the next generation. If the Justice League is going to last, it _needs_ a pool of people ready to take over and keep it going. Even bolster its ranks."

"You want me to be a schoolteacher, huh?" Dick asked, smiling wryly. Batman managed to return it, just.

"I'm sure you'll find ways to keep busy," he said.

"What about Barbara?" Dick asked.

"She doesn't have the experience you do, which is why I'm leaving her in charge of some new recruits in Gotham," Bruce explained. He looked at Dick. "That said, I want you two to compare notes. You work well together, always have."

Dick winced. "Er... Well... There might be an issue there..."

Starfire floated into the room, half awake, wearing nothing but one of Dick's white shirts. She drifted over to him, hugged him, and kissed his cheek. "Good morning, Dick~," she sighed, nuzzling him. Dick coughed, and Starfire looked over at Batman. She "eeped" and hid behind Dick.

"Ah, good morning, Mister The Batman, sir," she stuttered. Batman remained expressionless, as Dick rubbed his forehead. At last, Batman shook his head.

"I'll trust you to resolve it then," he said. Dick looked up at him in disbelief. Batman shrugged. "Is that so strange an idea?"

"I... Guess not," Dick admitted. "Now."

"Good," Batman said. He rose, and nodded politely to Starfire. "Nice to meet you, Princess Koriand'r. I've heard many good things about you from Dick."

"Ah... Thank you!" Starfire replied with a nervous smile. "Then... You approve of our-?"

"He's never needed my approval before," Batman stated simply. Dick smiled, feeling pleased and foolish at the same time. Batman headed for the doors. Starfire cleared her throat.

"Will you come visit again? It would be nice to get to know you," she said earnestly. Batman paused, and looked back at them. Dick smiled and shrugged. Batman's lips thinned.

"... I'll check on your progress from time to time," he said at last. Dick nodded back.

"I'll look forward to it," he said. Batman nodded, and headed out the doors. Starfire beamed and hugged Dick.

"He seemed nice," she said. Dick sighed.

"Yeah... He did."

* * *

 **Just a bit at a time.**


	3. Chapter 3

**_A Little Less Conversation, a Little More Action Please_**

A DCAU Plus fanfiction project

 _This adventure begins just after the Justice League pilot "Secret Origins"._

* * *

 **Barbara**

* * *

It was sadly typical of Bruce to dump new responsibilities on her without warning. It was the nature of their work, after all. But training two teenaged girls was a hell of a thing to get smacked with.

Especially after the night she'd had. Especially after going to Dick's apartment to try and make up... And _her_ at the door... Barbara shook her head free of those thoughts. Focus on the now.

She stood in front of them in the Batcave, dressed in her full Batgirl gear. The two were standing attentively: The blonde girl, Stephanie, looking nervous while Cassandra was unreadable. Barbara scowled at them, letting a bit of a growl out. Just as Bruce had growled at her during training.

"All right. Batman somehow thinks you two will work out. But you have to prove it to me!" She ordered. Stephanie saluted, and Cass copied her.

"Yes sir! Um, ma'am!"

"Don't suck up to me," Barbara growled. Stephanie flushed and nodded, putting her arm down.

"Yes ma'am!"

"Now," she stated, "you're going through the Strategic Self-Mutating Defense Regimen 4. You're going through it as many times as we need you to in order to gauge your abilities."

"Is that what Tim called 'Big Bad Zogger'?" Stephanie asked. "Because that sounds cool-"

"Enough!" Barbara growled. "Giving me lip isn't going to get you through this!"

Stephanie clammed up, and nodded. "Yes ma'am," she said again. Barbara pointed them to the obstacle course. They walked over to it, and Barbara took her seat at the Bat Computer. She started up the program, and robotic limbs, turrets, and drones fired up, surrounding the girls.

"Since you've already tackled the Joker," she stated, "we'll start at that setting _first."  
_  
"Uh, what are we supposed to-?" Stephanie asked, but was interrupted when a robot slugged her across the face. "GURK!"

"Survive," Barbara said blandly.

Cass responded to the combat simulation easily: Dodging around stun beams, and breaking the turrets with her bare hands. She was intensely focused and was weaving through the obstacles like they were nothing. Barbara had to admit: She was impressive. No wonder Bruce had recruited her... She was younger, faster...

Barbara turned up the difficulty level, the Zeta-series androids now attacking with more coordination. Cassandra bobbed and weaved, nearly a blur, seizing a stun baton from an android and shoving it through the robot's head. Stephanie, for her part, was trying to follow Cass but was taking lots of hits. Barbara scowled.

"Gotta keep up, Brown!" Barbara shouted over the intercom. Stephanie pushed herself, sliding between the legs of an android and shoving it from behind into another. She tried to dodge around another, but a fourth threw its stun baton at her from behind. Cassandra intervened, bodily throwing a Zeta in the way. Stephanie yelped and hid behind it, as Cassandra moved back to cover her. Barbara shook her head.

"Brown, stop weighing Cain down!" She ordered. Stephanie rummaged through the remains of the robot Cass had wrecked, and pulled out a stun blaster. She opened fire with it, covering Cass. The androids froze when struck by the beam, so Barbara increased the remainder's speed. Even Cass was feeling the pressure, wielding two stun batons and almost frantically jumping, flipping and dodging around the crowd. Stephanie clambered to the top of a turret and barely stayed on, as it twisted and turned and fired beams.

At last though, Cass got hit in the back, and she stumbled. This allowed the rest of the androids to dogpile onto her.

"CASS!" Stephanie cried in alarm. She looked over at Barbara. "Okay, okay! Time out! TIME OUT!"

Barbara paused... Then stopped the program. The androids all paused, and slowly stood up and walked away. Cass was revealed: Battered and bloodied but alive. She stood up, breathing hard, and staring at Barbara in confusion and anger. Barbara cleared her throat.

"... Maybe a little too much to start with," she stated blandly.

"Oh really? Ya think?!" Stephanie demanded angrily, still clinging to the turret like a cat stuck in a tree. Barbara hit a control, and the turret slid back into the floor. Stephanie yelped as she collapsed onto the rock, and she scowled up at Barbara. Batgirl scowled back.

"Being a superhero isn't fun and games! It takes more than a costume and an attitude to do this job!" Barbara scolded. "So do better, because you're not getting any time outs out there!"

"Can we at least have a break first?" Stephanie asked. Barbara shook her head.

"No," she said blandly. "But we'll try a less difficult level... If you can afford to stop dragging Cain down, Brown."

Cass's eyes narrowed at this. Stephanie gritted her teeth.

"Fine, whatever you say, Batgirl," the blonde seethed. Barbara glared back, and started the system up again.

Really, what were they complaining about? This wasn't anything she hadn't had to deal with at their age...

* * *

 **Just a bit at a time.**


	4. Chapter 4

**_A Little Less Conversation, a Little More Action Please_**

A DCAU Plus fanfiction project

 _This adventure begins just after the Justice League pilot "Secret Origins"._

* * *

 **Barbara II**

* * *

The Imperium Invasion was unlike anything she'd seen before. Sure, Mind Controlled Superman and the forces of Darkseid had invaded years ago, but their attacks were focused and limited: They had only attacked a few military bases and defense centers. Gotham had been left alone, the invasion turned back quickly. She had shared Kara's grief though, comforting the younger woman.

Her cousin, Superman himself, trying to kill her. The fear that greeted the two of them... That was real but it was so easy to compartmentalize it as a "Superman" or "Metropolis" problem. A problem she could help with but in the long run didn't seem to affect her personally.

Superman slowly regained the trust of the world. The losses were small enough the larger public could forgive. The criminals went back to work, and so did they.

The Imperium was vastly different. Monsters from another world came for them all. None of them cared about costume or non costume, religion, skin color, nationality: In the eyes of the Imperium, all of Earth had to die.

That night seemed endless. She and Tim had been practically all alone... At first. As they were using the Batmobile's missiles to fight a tripod in Robinson Park, the trees themselves had come alive and tripped it up. That had let them finish it off, and she was feeling surprisingly grateful to Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn: Both of whom had tagged along.

Then Mister Freeze had saved them from a few Imperium soldiers, stating that the destruction of the world was in no one's interest. Then Bane, who agreed they had a common enemy. Then Roxy Rocket, who just came for the thrill.

But despite all this (often reluctant) help, they were simply outnumbered and outgunned. They had been cornered in Arkham Asylum itself, surrounded on all sides. The Joker seemed to think it was great fun, and revealed just how bad the guards at Arkham were at frisking him with his acid and bombs.

But it wasn't enough.

The Imperium busted in, cornering them after a long, brutal struggle, in the rec room. Barbara had tried to put herself in front of Tim, but the boy instead made himself her shield. She hadn't realized how tall he had gotten, how he'd grown. How strange, the things you think about at the end as the creatures advanced.

Then... The clouds broke. The sun shined down through the skylights and windows and doors. And the Imperium died, dissolving away like bad dreams. For a time, there was nothing but silence.

A silence broken by the Joker:

"Well... That was fun. Who wants breakfast? The buffet is quite nice on Saturday mornings."

To her dying day, she would deny that the Joker made her laugh. It was the relief that they were going to live, that they had won, that did it.

The next few days were filled with work. The criminals went back to crime and had to be locked up. Looters and rioters had to be stopped. Her father had run the GCPD like an army, and run himself ragged, but they had restored order.

Throughout it though, one thought had been on her mind: Dick. All their petty arguments, all the jealousy, all their issues seemed so small after fighting against extinction with previously sworn enemies. Her crush on Bruce seemed so childish; He had rebuffed her every time, no matter how hard she'd tried.

So Barbara came to a decision: Five days after the invasion, she heard Dick was back in town, staying at his old apartment. She went right there, wearing her sexiest under her coat. She was going to have him. She wasn't going to play anymore. He would be hers, she would be his, and this second chance at life for everyone: They wouldn't squander it.

She walked up the stairs. She followed the hallway, and found the door. She took a deep breath, and knocked on the door.

It opened... Revealing a tall, buxom orange woman, with burning green eyes and a sweet smile. Dressed only in one of Dick's shirts. The woman beamed.

"Oh, hello! You must be Barbara. I'm Korind'r. Are you here to see Dick?"

The words the woman spoke turned into a dull roar in her ears. She stared past the woman. She saw Dick, clean shaven, shirtless, his eyes meeting hers... He opened his mouth, but Barbara didn't stay to hear what he had to say.

She was running down the hallway. She was hopping onto her bike. She was racing through traffic for the Manor, ignoring the calls on her phone.

Because the world had changed... But Barbara Gordon hadn't changed with it.

* * *

 **Just a bit at a time.**


	5. Chapter 5

**_A Little Less Conversation, a Little More Action Please_**

A DCAU Plus fanfiction project

 _This adventure begins just after the Justice League pilot "Secret Origins"._

* * *

 **Cass: Flashback**

* * *

Thinking in words was difficult. Her entire life, she had been spoken to in action. That was the language she knew fluently: What people felt and what they were going to do, how they were going to move.

What they experienced as they died.

It had been an uncomplicated life until then. It revealed an entire world of concepts and ideas that she was ignorant of. She knew someone was angry, but WHY was he angry? Why was he hurt inside? Why did he push on despite this pain?

Her father had no answers. He saw her the same way he saw his sword, his gun, his men: A tool.

So she ran, barely understanding anything outside. So many people, all with their own thoughts and goals and secrets. So many different lives.

Sneaking onto a ship had been easy. Hiding from the crew had also been easy... Until they reached another shore. Until a man in orange and brown had found her, and set his men on her.

She had fought furiously, moving among the men like a whirlwind, but always trying to avoid death to them. She had seen a man die at her own hand once. She had no desire to see it again.

Cass had brought down all of them, save for the man in orange and brown. She had advanced on him. His body language spoke of traps and deception, and she hoped to strike before he did.

But the man had been just fast enough, filling her face with gas, bright light and loud sonics. She staggered back, disoriented. She could feel the blows coming, but couldn't block them all. She was strong, she had taken bullets to her flesh, but enough hits dragged her down.

She was on the docks, fists, sticks and feet pummeling her. Still Cass fought, still she resisted...

Then there was a muffled boom. Then another, and another. The blows stopped coming and she smelled smoke. She opened her eyes, blobs staggering about. A smaller purple blob appeared, and took hold of her. The blob ran, pulling her along and her clumsy feet struggled to keep up.

Running. Crawling. The blob got her somewhere dark and quiet, and Cass's vision began to clear.

The blob resolved into a girl in a ragged purple hoodie, a black ski mask, torn jeans, a messenger bag, black gloves and scarf. She reached out to her, and Cass shrunk away- Before realizing her intentions from her body language. Intentions she spoke aloud.

"It's okay, I'm not going to hurt you," she said gently. She reached out to Cass, and began to clean and bandage her wounds. Cass watched her work, silent. The girl looked up at her, grimacing through the mask.

"Hang on," she murmured. She pulled down her hood and yanked off her mask. A kind, pale face with green eyes, light freckles and long blonde hair emerged. The girl smiled at Cass. She found she liked this smile.

"I'm Stephanie," she said. "What's your name?"

Cass struggled, trying to recall the sounds her father made when referring to her. Why, she didn't know, but it was nice to have a name. Even a weapon had a name.

"Cass... Andra... Cain," she got out slowly. Stephanie beamed.

"That's a nice name, Cassandra. Can I call you Cass, for short? I don't have to if you want..."

Stephanie began talking, endlessly. Yet now Cass was getting some context to her body language. Enough to put together a story:

Stephanie's father too was a bad man. He made things for bad people-Things that hurt good people . He made money, traded for food and home, for his family. But kept most of it to himself. Her mother... Slept a lot, because she took something. So Stephanie was alone. Stephanie did not like her father hurting others. She tried to stop him in disguise.

Stephanie was hurt by her father. Hurt by the pain he caused her and others. Cass stared at her, and found a question she could voice.

"Why?"

Stephanie smiled. "Because someone has to... And because it's what Batman would do."

Cass saw the reverence in Stephanie's body language when she said that word. The awe. The hope.

"... Tell me. Batman. About."

It took some time but Cass put together what she felt was the most important part: There was someone who fought to stop pain and suffering. No matter what. Someone who took on pain for others. Someone who did the impossible.

That someone was Batman.

"So... I'm trying to stop this shipment," Stephanie admitted. She sighed, and held out her bag filled with tools and other items. "But it kind of relied on those smoke bombs... And now they're looking for us.. "

Cass shook her head. "... Give up?" She asked. Stephanie shook her head.

"No. But I need a new plan..."

Cass found it in herself to smile. "... Help?"

Stephanie stared. "You are hurt pretty bad," she pointed out. Cass shook her head.

"Okay. Do?"

Stephanie nodded slowly. "Okay... We need... She leaned close to the wall of wherever they were and peered through a hole in the metal. Cass emulated her, finding another hole.

Outside next to several shipping containers was a large vehicle-bright yellow with a bucket on the front end. Stephanie bit her lower lip.

"We could use that, but it's so slow it'll take forever to get the cargo! Not without something to occupy them!"

Cass thought. What was the word... what were the words?

"... I go," she said, trying to move her hands to explain, "and..."

"Draw their attention? Be a distraction?" Stephanie asked, and Cass nodded with a smile. Stephanie grimaced. "It'll be dangerous."

"Yes. Do anyway," Cass said firmly. Stephanie nodded with a smile.

"All right... But you're gonna need these." She rummaged in her bag and produced a grappling hook and a length of rope. Cass took hold of them, weighing the items thoughtfully. Stephanie pulled her mask and hood back on, and stood up.

They made their way out of the warehouse, barely sneaking past a guard. They climbed up into the vehicle-A bulldozer, as Stephanie named it-and Stephanie fiddled with the controls. The engine roared to life, and Stephanie grinned.

"All right... You sure you got this? I mean, do you even know how to use that thing?"

"Hey!" The man searching for them before pointed his flashlight and gun at them. His ugly face glared up at them. "Get down here you little-!"

Cass swung the rope and hook, and with a crack she knocked the flashlight and gun away. The man was left stunned-Before Cass's next swing clocked him across the head and sent him down to the pavement out cold.

Stephanie whistled. "Okay... That was awesome."

Cass smiled. She was pleased to see the amazement and admiration in Stephanie's body language. She hadn't seen anything yet. "Drive."

Suffice it to say, the thugs at the dock were unprepared when Cass leaped in, swinging her rope and grappling hook like a whip, bludgeoning and disarming them like a swarm of angry bees.

They were even more unprepared when a bulldozer roared into the truck they were unloading, destroying it and all their illicit cargo. The sirens of approaching police scattered the rest, and Stephanie and Cass both escaped on the former's moped: A loud, noisy thing that sputtered as it propelled them along.

Unfortunately the man in orange and brown had escaped too... But Stephanie's disappointment over that was tempered by joy.

They traveled through the city, which Cass learned was named "Gotham", to an apartment building in a dirty, run down part of town. Stephanie grinned at her, now looking shy.

"Uh... Thanks," she said. "Um... You know, if you don't... Have anywhere to stay... You can stay with me? I mean, my mom won't care. She doesn't really care about anything... But if you don't-"

Cass found words inadequate. So she hugged Stephanie tightly. Her body was getting it across better than her words:

She wanted to share her home with Cass. Not just space and food but so much more. For as long as she needed it.

"... I'll take that as a yes," Stephanie laughed, hugging Cass back tight.

* * *

 **A little flashback...**


	6. Chapter 6

**_A Little Less Conversation, a Little More Action Please_**

A DCAU Plus fanfiction project

 _This adventure begins just after the Justice League pilot "Secret Origins"._

* * *

 **Dick 2**

* * *

Great. His ex got to meet his current girlfriend in the most awkward way possible. Well, okay: Not _the_ most awkward way, but he didn't think it could get much worse.

"Kori..." He began, but Starfire shook her head. She smiled gently at him as they stood in his apartment. Barbara was long gone.

"I know. It's something you need to handle alone." Starfire hugged him tightly, and kissed him. "Mm... But I will be ready to help. Just in case." She beamed. "I have to check on a few things for the Titans anyway."

"Thank you, Kori," Dick sighed in relief. Kori squeezed his shoulder, and he looked over at her.

"But," she began, "I do suggest letting her... Cool off. That holds true for redheads on any planet."

Dick chuckled. "Don't they?"

Dick managed to wait until the late evening. He didn't call ahead, not wanting Alfred to alert Barbara about things. He had to do this on his own. He rode to Stately Wayne Manor on the Nightcycle... Which, to be honest, was just one of his surviving R-Cycles repainted and modified by Cyborg. He had to admit, he'd missed the feel of these babies. Once up the driveway, he dismounted with a bit of flair.

Habit was habit.

He walked up the manor steps to the front doors, and rang the doorbell. Much to his surprise, it wasn't Alfred who opened the doors: It was an irate looking Barbara.

"What?" She seethed. Dick coughed, but stayed focused and calm.

"Hello to you too," he said. "I'm really glad you didn't die in the invasion."

Barbara glared daggers at him. "What do you want?" She demanded.

Out of the corner of his eye, Dick saw Alfred walk into the foyer, take one look at the situation... And then about face and calmly walk out.

 _Oh shit,_ Dick thought. This was _bad.  
_  
"Can we talk about this? Inside?" Dick asked gently, sincerely. Barbara's grip tightened on the door, as she struggled with the urge to slam it in his face.

"... _Fine,"_ she growled. She turned and stalked off towards the study. Dick followed, gently shutting the door behind him. He followed her footsteps, through the grandfather clock entrance and down into the cave itself.

His keen attention to detail gave him a lot of information right off the bat: In the exercise area, a blonde teenaged girl was running through a complex gymnastics routine on the balance beam. It was sloppy and uncoordinated, speaking of fatigue. She dismounted, panting hard. She looked over at Barbara and Dick: The former stalking forward in a furor, and the latter looking more neutral.

"... Take me, sexy Batman," she mumbled. Barb's glare intensified.

"I'm sorry, what was that?" She demanded. The blonde girl yelped.

"Ah, nothing!" She blushed. "Er... Barbara? I was hoping to take a break-"

"You took one an hour ago and didn't get it right, Brown. So do it, _again,"_ Barbara ordered. Stephanie held up her hands.

"Not to question your training methods, sensei, but I'm pretty sure that-"

"When I want your opinion, I'll give it to you!" Barbara snapped. Stephanie and Dick's eyes widened at this. Barbara immediately stalked off in the direction of the Bat Computer. Dick glanced at Stephanie: Exhausted, sweaty, and on the edge of self restraint.

Dick looked at the Bat Computer. In the chair in front of it sat a lithe, muscular Asian girl with short black hair. She was staring at the screen, tapping buttons seemingly at random. Barbara smacked her hand down on the console, and the girl turned to look at her. This must be Cass, he thought.

"What are you doing?!" Barbara demanded. "I told you to start reading these and sorting them out!"

Cass looked aside. "... I..."

"I? I what?! What is it?" Barbara demanded. "Can't you carry out a simple instruction?!"

Stephanie looked up, and the look on her face heightened the tension in the cave to the breaking point. Dick took a deep breath, comprehension dawning in him. Slowly, too slowly, he saw the look in Stephanie's eyes and the shamed expression on Cass's face.

"... Can't," Cass whispered. Barbara glared.

"Can't? Can't what?!"

"... C-Can't," Cass admitted, sounding... Scared. Barbara's anger was interrupted by confusion.

"Can't-?"

Stephanie stormed past Dick and right up to Barbara, backing the taller, older girl against the screen. Her hands were balled into angry fists.

"She. _Can't._ **READ! YOU INSENSITIVE HARPY!** " Stephanie bellowed in fury, her words echoing throughout the Cave. Barbara gaped, shock and shame entering her eyes.

"I-I didn't-!"

"No! No, you didn't!" Stephanie snarled. "I'm sorry being the _police commissioner's daughter_ didn't _clue you in!"_ She grabbed Cass's hand and led her off, upstairs. Dick watched them go, frozen in the moment. Like a bystander by a train wreck in progress. The grandfather clock door slammed shut behind them.

Dick slowly turned and looked back at Barbara. She was looking down at the cave floor, her shoulders shaking slightly. He slowly walked up to her, reaching out a hand.

"Babs," he began, "what the _fuck_ is going on?"

The redhead slapped his hand away, and she sat at the Bat Computer. She turned her back to him and began typing, her angry taps filling the air. "Just-Just GO, all right! Run off! It's what you're best at!"

Dick gaped. " _Excuse me?!"_

"What do you think it means?! You couldn't take staying in Bruce's shadow and you ran off to your _space bimbo girlfriend!_ So what does it _matter_ what happens here?!" Barbara seethed. Dick took a deep breath, and calmed himself. She was lashing out, attacking... This meant things were really, _really_ bad. He had to stay in control, because it had to be _really_ bad if she couldn't.

For both of their sakes.

"Space bim- _Jesus Christ_ Babs, I left because I felt like I needed to become more than just the 'boy wonder'," Dick said, slow and controlled against the fury before him. "Bruce... he did his best trying to finish raising me with Alfred's help but he doesn't know how to let go and let someone leave the nest. I found that with the Titans. And _yes_ , Kori and I clicked and we got back together, but if I recall? Us breaking up was a _mutual_ decision. So don't be pulling this jealousy crap on me now!"

Barbara was still furiously, but she was listening. Caught between the urge to smack him and the urge to run. He couldn't let her run. He would prefer her hit her, if it let her get this all out. He continued.

"Second? I got caught up in my own shit, Bruce was dealing with _another_ crisis that 'only he could handle' and I was feeling hurt that he only seemed to give two shits about me in conjunction to his mission." Dick ran a hand through his hair. "Things came to a head over Bruce's methods. Words were said, punches were thrown, and I left in high dudgeon. Look, I'm _sorry_. I thought we'd come to grips with that?!"

"You just assumed I had!" Barbara growled. "You _never asked_! You _never_ thought about me, you just thought I was an extension of _him_!"

"And you never tried to get in touch afterwards, so what the hell was I supposed to think!?" Dick demanded.

"Maybe if you were thinking MORE, none of this would have ever happened! It's all your fault! Now Bruce has saddled me with these new kids I was supposed to train and that's been fucked to hell because of _you, too!"_

"The HELL it is!" Dick shot right back. "You were doing a good job screwing that up all by yourself!"

"GET OUT!" She screamed, slamming her fists onto the keyboard as she bowed her head. "I've got work to do and you're just going to make things worse! I have to fix what YOU did!"

"Oh no, you are _not_ blaming this shit on me!" Dick spun her back to face him... And saw the tears running down her cheeks. His anger caught in his throat at the sight. "... dammit Babs..."

"He trusted me... And... And... You come back and... And..." She shut her eyes tightly, trying to keep her tears from coming. He couldn't help himself-He wrapped his arms around her and hugged her tightly.

"Oh God Dick... I fucked up. I fucked everything up," she sobbed. "I let my feelings... I just...!"

"That's not true, Barb! Bruce trusted you to train them-Who better?" Dick asked, rubbing her back soothingly. "You're under a lot of pressure, you'll fix this! You're the genius, remember?"

Barb's grip on his shoulders tightened, almost painfully.

"No! No I'm not! I just blew up at a girl who can't even read and I've been mocking a girl raised in the gutter for everything and I just screamed at you because I'm jealous and _petty_!" She kept babbling. "I-I thought... I thought you were dead! I thought Bruce was dead! Tim and I-We were going to die! I _thought_ we were _all_ going to die, and-and... And he just drops these girls on me, doesn't ask how I am, and you-you're back and I _thought_ we could be together again and then...!" Barbara buried her face in his chest and sobbed, long and hard. "I just... I'm awful... I'm so awful...!"

Dick held her, letting her vent and rage and cry. He rubbed her back, soothing her with quiet whispers and soft noises. After a time, Barbara was able to calm herself, taking deep breaths. Dick offered her a hankerchief, and she blew her nose. She wiped her face, hiccuping a few times. She peered up at him with her reddened eyes, controlling her breaths.

"... God you must think I'm awful," she whispered. Dick shook his head.

"No, no I don't," he said softly. "You've always been the strong one, you know? But that doesn't mean you don't have a limit."

Barbara nodded, sniffling. She hugged him tightly, desperately.

"I'm so glad you're not dead," she whispered. "Even with everything, I'm so glad you're not dead."

Dick hugged her back, just as tightly.

"I'm so glad you're not dead too," he said softly. "And so is Bruce. He just... He sucks at showing it. But believe me, he _cares._ And he wouldn't trust us if he didn't think we could handle it."

"... I was trying to do things... His way," she admitted. "When you're so angry and... And hurt, it... It felt natural."

"Yeah," Dick said with a nod. He smirked. "I tried his way with the Titans, too... At first."

"... How did that go?" Barbara asked. Dick shook his head and snorted.

" _Lousy._ It wasn't what they needed. They needed strong, dependable leadership, but they didn't need a drill instructor. They needed someone who knew them, and worked _with_ them rather than trying to force them into an impossible shape. I had to _learn_ how to lead, not just emulate what I knew."

"Indeed," said Alfred, seemingly materializing out of thin air. Barbara still jumped when he did that, while Dick had gotten used to it. The butler offered them a plate of hot tea and cookies. Barbara looked at Alfred anxiously. "No one knows how to lead or teach from the beginning: We learn by doing it and finding out what works."  
 _  
"_ Alfred, are they-?" Barbara asked, but Alfred offered her a smile.

"I caught them, gave them some cookies and milk, and talked with them. I assured Miss Cassandra and Miss Stephanie that you are not a 'harpy', and that this is as big an adjustment for you as it is for them." He reached out and squeezed one of Barbara's hands comfortingly. He kind eyes almost seemed to shine.

"And I assure you, Miss Barbara... This is not something _we_ cannot recover from."

Barbara managed a smile, and Dick mirrored her.

"Offering ice-cream therapy as an opener would look like a bribe, wouldn't it?" She asked. Alfred nodded.

"I'm afraid so, miss. My suggestion? Let everyone involved cool off, just a bit. Then start again. I doubt it will be easy... But then, it seldom is in this profession."

He left them the tea and biscuits, and headed off back to the elevator. Barbara and Dick watched it go, before looking back at one another. Barbara took another few deep breaths.

"... I'm sorry, Dick," she said. Dick shook his head.

"I'm sorry too."

"You didn't _do_ anything wrong," Barbara pointed out. Dick smiled and shrugged.

"Always feels better to apologize. Especially if I do something wrong in the future." He sighed and hugged her again. "But... Maybe we should bench this... Thing between us, until we get the other stuff in our lives sorted out? Just one crisis at a time?"

Barbara very slowly nodded, and sighed.

"The never ending battle, huh?" She asked softly. Dick shrugged and smiled wryly.

"It's the fine print that always gets you."

She laughed at his joke, genuinely. It was good to hear.

* * *

 **And the explosion.**


	7. Chapter 7

**_A Little Less Conversation, a Little More Action Please_**

A DCAU Plus fanfiction project

 _This adventure begins just after the Justice League pilot "Secret Origins"._

* * *

 **Cassandra II**

* * *

She let Stephanie lead her from the Batcave. The blonde girl's emotions were not hard to decipher, and they never had been: She was always so open and so unguarded with Cass, and that was why Cass liked her. And right now, Stephanie was angry and furious over how Batgirl had treated her.

"That smart aleck, jumped up... Bet she just got her costume because she was the commissioner's daughter," Stephanie ground out. She still held Cass's hand tightly, and led her to the living room of the manor above. The sun was setting and the first stars were peeking out. The manor was still and quiet.

Stephanie sat with Cass on a couch, and looked at her in naked concern. "Are you okay?" She asked.

Cass frowned. She blinked away tears. Strange... She had stopped crying around her father. It always resulted in bad things. Yet here...

"I'm sorry that bitch said those things to you," Stephanie said firmly. She shook her head. "We gotta get the Sexy Batman to teach us or something because Gordon's just-!"

"Language, young lady," Alfred admonished. Stephanie jumped, letting out a squeak of fright. Cass looked at him quickly, then read his body language. He had been listening in: He didn't seem surprised to see them. He was confident though, and carrying a plate of cookies and milk. Stephanie glowered.

"I see where Batman learned that trick," she muttered. Louder, she spoke to Alfred: "I'm sorry Alfred but Gordon just-She's setting us up to fail and mocking us when we do!"

"Really? What did she say?" Alfred asked gently, setting the snacks down and rising back up, as refined and dignified as ever. Cass reached for the cookies and began eating, while Stephanie ranted.

"First she has us go through 'Joker' level on that Zogger thing, then she has me do combat and gymnastics training without any breaks for five hours, but worst of all-She made Cass do some detective crap without even bothering to ask her if she _could read,"_ she seethed. She glowered deeply, her normally bright eyes narrowed in disgust and anger. "Did her daddy ask Batman if she could become Batgirl or _what_?"

"Now Miss Stephanie, that is improper," Alfred scolded. "You have no idea about Miss Barbara's past or the challenges she has overcome. Any more than she knew about yours! As much as it may surprise you, Batman and his associates are _not omnipotent._ Nor should you expect them to be!"

Stephanie, shocked, settled into a sigh of resignation. "I'm sorry Alfred," she said. "But seriously, she's been running us ragged and treating us like dirt! What am I supposed to think?"

Alfred sighed, and rested a hand on Stephanie's shoulder. "Your outrage for your friend is understandable, even commendable," Alfred said, "but it is more likely this is all the result of a misunderstanding. Above all else, Miss, you must remember: Master Bruce is a man of _action_ , not of words. And his associates have picked up some remarkably bad habits from him, acting without thinking of talking about it. Please, do not be the next to pick them up? I'm sure it's nothing we can't all overcome with some communication. All right?"

Stephanie, her anger mostly exhausted, nodded slowly. Alfred smiled. Cass liked when he smiled: His body language wasn't so much closed, as refined. Like he knew exactly how to shift and stand to say what he wanted with his stance, and nothing more. Save that he was tired, probably from working so hard for them all.

For people he barely knew. Cass smiled back, and there was a small twinkle in his eye. She liked that, too. It made her feel special.

"Now, you and Miss Cassandra have your cookies and milk. I will be back soon, and we'll sort this out. I promise," he said. Alfred turned and walked off to the study. He entered the Batcave, the grandfather clock door sliding open with a low hum and then closed with a soft thump. Stephanie looked over at Cass, in concern.

"Cass?"

"... Okay," Cass decided.

"Are you sure?" Stephanie asked. "You're... Crying."

Cass smiled at her. "... Could not cry. Father not... Let me," she explained. Stephanie's eyes glistened. Cass blinked. "Now you cry."

Stephanie hugged her tightly. Cass returned it. She then let Stephanie go and looked at her seriously with her hands on her shoulders.

"No cry. Teach me."

Stephanie nodded. "Okay. I left those books back home-"

"Teach me," she insisted. Stephanie nodded, and walked over to the bookshelf.

"Okay... Let's see if I can find something that wasn't written a hundred years ago and isn't worth more than my house," she murmured. Cass wasn't sure of the joke, but Steph was making one so she did at least smile.

Eventually, Stephanie returned with a green, leather bound book, a pen and papers. She opened it up to a page with a picture on it. The picture was of a blonde girl, a rabbit, a mouse, and a little man in a large hat seated at a table. Stephanie pointed at the girl, and then to a chunk of symbols on the opposing page.

"Alice," Stephanie said. "A, L, I, C, E. That's the girl's name." She reached out to draw the symbols on the paper. She then tapped each one, repeating the letters again slowly. Cass nodded, trying to commit it to memory.

"Are there any other words you can recognize from the book we read back home?" Stephanie asked. Cass scowled at the page. The lines of symbols seemed like an indecipherable mess to her. "It's okay, take your time," Stephanie said. Cass's finger lashed out, and she pointed at one small word.

"... Bi... Bird?" Cass asked. Stephanie nodded.

"Yeah! And what's that mean?"

Cass made the motion of a bird flapping its wings with her arms, and Stephanie nodded again with a smile.

"Yes, that's right!"

"Uh... Hello."

Both girls looked up. Barbara was standing there, her hands behind her back. Her body language spoke of shame and sorrow, but determination. Stephanie's eyes narrowed.

"Hello," Stephanie returned coldly. The redhead took a deep breath and sighed.

"I came up to apologize," she said. "I let my personal issues get in the way of doing my job. There is no excuse... And I'm sorry," she said. Stephanie looked over at Cass. Cass nodded: It was clear whatever pain Barbara was suffering right now was genuine.

"... Accepted, I guess," Stephanie said guardedly. Stephanie couldn't see Barbara's true feelings, so her suspicions remained. But Cass didn't fault her friend for that: No one was perfect. Cass nodded as well. Barbara let her hands fall to her sides, squeezing them nervously.

"... I see you're trying to learn how to read," she said finally. "I did work as a librarian at my college. Maybe... I can help with that? And we can work out the... Other things we all need to work on while we do it?"

Stephanie again looked to Cass. Cassandra nodded, and even gave Barbara a small smile. This immediately made Barbara relax: Less sorrow, less self recrimination. Stephanie too relaxed.

"... Teach me," Cass decided. Barbara walked over and sat down with them, Cass between her and Stephanie. Stephanie was still guarded, but she did scoot a little closer.

"I've been teaching her with Doctor Seuss books, but I don't think Bruce has any of those," Stephanie said. Barbara pulled a tablet out from in between the couch cushions, and booted it up. She smiled kindly at them both.

"Don't worry. I've got plenty on here," she said. " _Alice in Wonderland_ is great, but we should start a bit easier, right?"

Cass frowned. She hated not being able to read. But the reassurance and confidence in Barbara meant she would listen to her. It was clear with how she handled the book that writing was very dear to her.

Just as trying to do right by them was dear to her.

"Right," Stephanie said with a nod. She smiled at Cass. "So! Which one do you want to resume?"

"... Cat in Hat," Cass decided. Barbara's smile grew.

"A girl of taste, I see," she said. Stephanie sighed.

"And here I was trying for Green Eggs and Ham," she lamented.

"Plebian," Barbara teased gently. Stephanie tensed, and for a moment Barbara was filled with fear she'd gone too far. "I mean-"

"Yeah? Better than a _snob,"_ Stephanie retorted, but without malice. The tension vanished again, and soon Barbara and Stephanie were slowly warming up to eachother with laughs and words. Cass smiled as well, and focused on trying to grasp the mystery of reading.

If it was anything like reading people, it was probably worth knowing...

* * *

 **And fixing things up.**


	8. Chapter 8

**_A Little Less Conversation, a Little More Action Please_**

A DCAU Plus fanfiction project

 _This adventure begins just after the Justice League pilot "Secret Origins". This section was written by scriviner and myself._

* * *

 **Tim**

* * *

The Batmobile roared into the cave, coming to a dead stop.

Batman and Robin both stepped out of the vehicle in dead silence.

Patrol tonight had been quiet. Not the 'too quiet' of villains preparing some nefarious scheme. Or even the quiet that came from the criminal element laying low after a narrowly thwarted alien invasion. This almost felt like the sort of hum-drum quiet of a night in Gotham. A few minor crimes here and there.

The Batmobile's presence on the streets almost as much of a deterent as a pair of fists to the face.

That very quiet had actually made things somewhat worse.

A bit of action on a patrol would have probably helped. A little bit of the old fisticuffs, some banter, and that gave everyone a chance to break the tension and possibly talk.

Except that didn't happen tonight.

The silence between them had simply stretched.

Winding tighter and tighter between the two.

More taut.

More tense.

More brittle.

Simply getting worse and worse as the night wore on until neither of them were even grunting at each other as the car had finally pulled in.

Tim almost heaved a sigh of relief to escape the confines of the car. To no longer be continuously subjected to the endless feeling hanging in the air that he was supposed to say something, but couldn't quite work out how to do so.

But no sigh escaped his lips, as that would have finally broken the silence. And it was just so far beyond awkward that he was having to develop entirely new words to explain just how awkward this had become.

Until finally Batman... no, Bruce now with the cowl down looked at him strangely over the hood of the Batmobile and finally said, "What's been eating you all night?"

The question had caught Tim so badly off guard that he startled, almost smacking his shin into the Batmobile's bumper in his surprise. "I... uh... wait, what?"

"You've been tense all night." Bruce graveled. "Was there something you wanted to say?"

"You noticed?"

Bruce inclined his head slightly in a gesture Tim vaguely recognized as something Alfred would do and replied in a flat, vaguely sarcastic tone. "World's Greatest Detective."

Tim chuckled then, the tension eased and broke. "Fair enough. I... um... I've been thinking."

"About?"

"Leaving."

That earned a quirked eyebrow from Bruce. "And go where?"

"I hadn't decided yet," Tim admitted. He shrugged. "I just... you know me and Barbara were trapped in Arkham with all the costumed villains and the aliens were about to get us... not knowing if I was going to live or die or... well... not knowing anything."

Bruce nodded, encouraging.

"I guess I had an epiphany." Tim said, speaking slowly as he and Bruce walked from the turntable vaguely towards the stairs that led up to the manor proper. "That's my life."

"I don't understand." Bruce replied.

"My life. In a nutshell. In Gotham. Surrounded by crazy people. With things trying to kill me. Not sure if I was going to see tomorrow." Tim waved his hands gesturing vaguely. "I... maybe you've adjusted or something... or you've got all your own own unhealthy coping mechanisms for having to deal with your life being like that and I just-"

Bruce pierced him with a look that had him pause in place as they were passing the wardrobe area where they could change clothes. "You're not sure if that's the life you want."

Tim shrugged and held his hands, "I love being Robin. You know I do, Bruce. I love being out there and helping people. I'm just not sure now if..." He gestured to the cave at large even as he unclipped the cape from his throat. "Is this it? Is the rest of my life going to be like that? Day in, day out? Just... crazy all around and death waiting right outside the door?"

"You think it would be different away from Gotham?" Bruce asked neutrally.

Tim smiled broadly, "I won't know til I actually look."

"Fair enough." Bruce said, then turned on his heel and walked away.

"Hey! What? Fair enough? That's it? That's all you have to say?" Tim stared at the man's retreating back for a long moment before he hurriedly chased after him, catching up with the larger man just as he got a desk covered in nearly stacked folders.

He grabbed hold of Bruce's shoulder and forced him to turn.

Bruce smacked a folder into Tim's chest as he turned. "Here."

"Er... what?" Tim asked in confusion as he caught the folder in his hands.

"I'd been considering asking you to look into something that's coming together in Jump City."

"I... wait... what?" Tim flipped the folder open revealing some paperwork and a picture of Titans Tower.

"There's a new Titans Team being put together. I was thinking of asking you if you would be interested in it."

"Bwuh? But-" Tim's eyes narrowed. "You knew?"

Bruce shifted uncomfortably under Tim's gaze. "I could see... signs. That you were getting restless. That you were possibly thinking about something like this. Leaving Gotham, I mean."

"How did you even know I was thinking about going?!" Tim blurted out. "I didn't even really think about this until today!"

Bruce shrugged, turning back to the desk that had the folders. "It was similar to how things happened with Dick. Admittedly, back then... I... may not have handled things in the best possible manner."

Tim coughed awkwardly and mouthed, "There's an understatement."

He frowned down at the folder then. "I don't know about this idea of yours, Bruce. I mean... Isn't this pretty much exactly what Dick did?"

"And it's what he needed to become his own man." Bruce replied. "Maybe it might not be for you-" He paused, faintly hesitant before pressing on, "Did you have any other ideas?"

Tim glanced back down, and began flipping through the photos of his new potential team mates. "I guess not. And I guess it does get me out of Gotham for a while."

He stopped briefly at the photo of an extremely attractive blonde girl his age in a short skirt and a red cape with a big red 'S' symbol on her white T-shirt.

"If it doesn't work out," Bruce continued, seemingly oblivious to the minuscule pause, "I'm sure there are other things you can do."

Tim wondered if it was his imagination that Bruce was hitting the word 'do' a little harder than he really should have. He blushed faintly and hurriedly tried to shuffle to the next photo in the folder, but only managed to awkwardly drop Supergirl's picture.

Bruce's lip twitched slightly at that and added, "You know, Dick got to meet all sorts of interesting people while he was with his team of Titans."

Tim picked up the picture and replied suspiciously, quirking an eyebrow while holding up Supergirl's photo. "Like the attractive, flying, solar-powered alien woman who likes short skirts that he's currently dating?"

"Yes."

"It really feels like you're turning me into Dick 2.0, here Bruce." Tim grumbled.

It was possibly a poorly timed coincidence that a blonde girl in a Robin costume chose that moment to step into the cave, grumbling tiredly. "Alright, I'm ready to train some more."

Tim gaped. "And you already picked my replacement?! Like how I replaced Dick?!" He slapped the folder into Bruce's chest and stalked away. "You really had this all planned out to get me to leave! UN-FREAKING-BELIEVABLE!"

* * *

 **Stephanie  
**

* * *

Stephanie blinked as she watched Robin storm away. She looked over at Bruce, who seemed confused. She blinked a few more times.

"Oookay... What was that about?" Stephanie asked. Bruce looked over at Stephanie.

"He told me he was feeling confined and wanted to leave Gotham for a while... So I arranged for him to be recruited into the new Teen Titans," Bruce explained.

Stephanie blinked a few times. "... When you're having me go around in my Robin costume."

Bruce's eyes widened. "... Oh."

"Yeah, _oh,"_ Stephanie said sarcastically. She held a hand to her forehead. "I thought Alfred was _exaggerating._ Hang on. It's Robin Time!"

Bruce arched an eyebrow. Stephanie shrugged.

"A Robin has to help her Batman!"

She headed off after Tim, who had stormed off deeper into the cave.

It didn't take too long to find him: He was sitting on a ledge, angrily throwing rocks down into the depths of the caverns below. They echoed faintly up from the depths, punctuated by Tim's angry grunts. Stephanie sucked in a deep breath.

"You may as well come out. I heard you coming a mile away," Tim grumbled. He threw another rock, bouncing it off the far wall. "You'll be trained to do the same, no doubt..."

"Hi, I'm Stephanie Brown. Nice to meet you too," Stephanie deadpanned. She sat down next to him, wrapping her arms around her knees.

"You're standing there in a Robin costume ready to replace me," Tim growled. "You'll forgive me if I come off as a _little_ bitter."

She snorted back, nostrils flaring. "You're lucky you're so cute or I might take offense."

Tim flushed. "Wait, I'm what?" He stared at her. Stephanie rolled her eyes.

"You're. _Cute._ In a handsome street rat adopted by a billionaire sort of way. Like a white Aladdin," she said. Tim's ears burned red as he looked away at the far side of the cave.

"Yeah, well... You're... Um..."

Stephanie smirked. "You don't talk to girls much, do you?"

"No, not really," Tim admitted. Stephanie sighed and shrugged.

"Apparently girls in high stress households develop faster," she said, almost innocently. Tim sputtered, scooting away from her a few inches. Stephanie smiled at him.

"But look: I get it. He sprung this on you out of nowhere, and here I show up in a Robin costume. _My own_ Robin costume, by the way." She pinched at her suit, and Tim finally saw how cheap and Halloween-like it looked. "But if I'm becoming Robin, it's not just because he's getting rid of you! Bruce knew you were... You know," she waved her hands vaguely, trying to shape what she said, "restless and wanting to leave the nest."

"So he just recruited you? Just like that?" Tim snorted. Stephanie scowled, and lightly punched his shoulder. "Ow! Hey!"

"I had to rescue him! From the freaking _Joker!"  
_  
Tim rolled his eyes. "Yeah, sure. Pull the other one."

"Okay, I had a _lot_ of help," Stephanie said, smiling at him. Tim raised an eyebrow.

"Help?"

A girl shaped shadow dropped down into the training area of the cave. She rose from her crouch, and turned to look over at them. Tim stared in disbelief at the hard, black eyes glaring out at him. Stephanie waved at her, and Cass returned the wave before she leaped away into the shadows.

"That's Cass. She's awesome. You'll like her," Stephanie said brightly.

Tim scowled.

"Great. Bruce got a Mini-Me," Tim mumbled, though he stared after her intently. Stephanie rolled her eyes.

"Dude, have you looked in a mirror lately?"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Tim demanded. Steph sighed.

"Oh, I don't know. Blue eyes, black hair, and roguish good looks?"

Tim blushed at that again, before he groaned and slapped his hands over his eyes.

"Oh God. You just described Dick! I am turning into Dick 2.0!"

Stephanie slapped the back of his head, and he winced.

"Ow! Hey! Quit that!" Tim grumbled. Stephanie sighed and gripped his shoulders. She leaned in and glared into his eyes. Tim blushed and looked aside, but Stephanie forced him to look back at her.

"Christ, five minutes with you guys and I'm up to my armpits in brooding, brooding, _brooding_!"

"Its funny. I used to be the one complaining about that," Tim sighed.

"Look: Let's cut to the chase, all right? I've only been here for a short time, but I've realized the obvious: Bruce really, _really_ sucks at talking about feelings. Even for a guy, he is _bad!"_ She held up a finger. "So, in what has to be typical fashion for him, he saw the problem and decided to _fix it._ But he explained it in a way that came off absolutely terrible."

Tim blinked a few times at her. Stephanie beamed at him, and hugged him.

"As though he was an unfeeling sociopath. When he's really just an idiot!"

"... You just called Batman an idiot," Tim pointed out. Stephanie nodded.

"I've known him for more than five minutes, so yeah. He is, about this stuff." She sighed and stood up. She pulled him onto his feet. "Look... I'm not about to break up a family. I know what that's like. So come on."

Stephanie took his hand and dragged Tim back into the cave proper. Bruce was analyzing something at the Bat Computer. Probably pretending to not notice them until they got right up to the main platform of the computer.

"Bruce? We need to talk," Stephanie said. Bruce turned from the computer, and stood up. He looked at Tim, uncomfortably. Tim looked aside, but at Stephanie's elbow he looked back at his adoptive father.

"Now, Bruce? You wanted to make Tim happy, right?"

Bruce nodded. "Whatever he decides," he said, looking at Tim earnestly. Tim grimaced a bit uncomfortably at the show of emotion.

"Translation: He loves you and wants you to be happy," Stephanie stated. "And it was just bad timing. You're not actually replacing him, right?"

"I have designed a new suit for you," Bruce said. He hit a few buttons on the computer console, showcasing a modified Robin costume. It had a fully enclosed cowl, goggles, an X-shaped bandolier over its chest, and a wing shaped cape. "The flight harness is something I've been working on with Dick: I think you'll find it useful."

"Translation, he thinks you'll be awesome and be able to find your own identity," Stephanie said. Bruce raised an eyebrow. She shrugged. "What? Anything else?"

The two males looked at each other. Tim crossed his arms over his chest. "She's... Really good at that," he admitted. Bruce nodded.

"What she lacks in combat skill she makes up for in intuition," Bruce observed. Tim winced and looked over at Stephanie in pity.

"You are going to _hate_ the next few months. Believe me," he said. Stephanie sighed.

"Yeah, well... Least I won't look like Doctor Midnight," she said, sticking her tongue out. Tim huffed. He looked at Bruce, now able to smile. Just a bit.

"So... How does Red Robin sound? You know, for the new identity?" Tim asked.

"Yum," Stephanie hummed. The two men looked at her, and she shrugged. "What?"

"It's your choice," Bruce said. "Whatever you want. I'll give you the chance to make it happen."

"Then," Tim smiled, "I think I will check things out in Jump City. And take the new suit." He gestured over to Stephanie. "And I think she'll do fine as Robin." He looked over at Steph and grinned. "Just promise to keep being as big a pain in the butt as you are right now."

Stephanie saluted him. "Aye aye, Captain Pretty Boy!"

"And try not to break the best part of her, Bruce?" Tim asked. Bruce managed a very, very small smirk.

"I don't think I can... But I guess we'll find out," he said.

Stephanie winced, but managed to smile. "The things I do for Gotham," she sighed. "So, shall we start with the rack or the iron maiden?"

Bruce pulled his cowl back on, becoming the Bat again.

"You've been listening to Alfred. Good. That will make this easy," Batman stated. Stephanie laughed nervously.

"Ohhh great..."

Tim chuckled, and headed upstairs. The picture of Supergirl remained tucked away in his belt. Maybe things were going to turn out all right, after all.

* * *

 **Well, someone has to plant the seeds of shipping... Guess it'll be us.**


	9. Chapter 9

**_A Little Less Conversation, a Little More Action Please_**

A DCAU Plus fanfiction project

 _This adventure begins just after the Justice League pilot "Secret Origins". This section was written_ _with help from TempestK_

* * *

 **Bruce II**

* * *

Bruce came in, exhausted. Splitting time between the Justice League, Gotham and Wayne Enterprises was taxing him. He'd get used to it, in time, but he needed some rest. He rubbed his eyes as he walked through the foyer. So tired, and yet he still had work to get done.

And here was Barbara waiting for him in the study. Seems it was going to be a longer night than he'd thought. She looked at him intently, hands squeezing together in front of her stomach.

 _"So, Alfred get you up to date?" She asked, sounding rather bitter. He took a deep breath, focusing on slowing his heart rate and staying calm._

"Alfred gave me... A heads up," he said, as diplomatically as he could manage. Working with people this much was taxing… But to avoid Alfred's anger, he focused. "Are you... Okay?"

Barbara rubbed her temples. She gave him a wan smile.

"I'm... I'm getting there. I think," she said. Bruce walked over to her and looked into her eyes. He rested his hands on her shoulders.

"... If I had known you were in a compromised emotional state, I would have been more careful about giving you students," he said. It was the closest he could get to an apology under the circumstances.

Barb ran a hand through her hair. "I should have told you something. We've all been run ragged, there's been an alien invasion, and then... things happened that I'm going to need to process." She closed her eyes and leaned against him. Seeking comfort. It made him a bit uncomfortable, but thankfully it didn't seem to have anything other than platonic intentions. He saw just how dark the bags were under her eyes, how fragile she seemed.

"... If you want to stop, I'd understand," he said finally. Barbara looked up at him, blinking.

"Huh?" She asked, as though not hearing him.

Bruce took a deep breath. "It isn't a matter of you not being tough enough. It's a matter of what you can take. And sometimes, you need to stop."

Barb lets out a slightly bitter laugh. "There's no 'stopping' this sort of thing Bruce. Especially not when I've been doing it for so long already. Too much momentum, too much investment."

She arched a brow. "Could _you_ just 'stop'?"

Bruce shook his head, slowly. "No. But you're not like me. To be honest... I'm glad for it," he admitted.

"This is going to be my life. I can't really have it any other way. But you… You're not the same as me. Or Dick. Tim isn't either. It doesn't mean you have to do this… The same way," he finally said.

Barbara sighed, and rubbed her hair again.

"I... I don't know," she admitted. "I feel like I'm doing a lot of good as Batgirl, but some days it just wears on me that there's some way I could do _more_. And the whole thing with my dad, going around behind his back, it's been eating at me too." She laughs again, a bit less bitter. "He's been talking about me entering the Academy." No need to be more specific.

Bruce nodded. "Before you go that route, there is something you could do," he said. Barbara looked at him curiously. He cleared his throat.

"I've been considering it for a while. But in light of the Justice League, it's become vital," he said.

Barbara couldn't help the smile. "Another one of your plans within plans?"

"More… Some improvisation," Bruce said. "You're excellent at coordinating and finding information. There's a monitor computer system at the Watchtower that gets information from around the world. You could make that information into something useful, since AI lacks human intuition." He nodded.

"And with more operatives running around, having someone behind their eyes and ears to aid them would be helpful. Especially someone with your experience in computers and your intelligence."

Barbara frowned thoughtfully.

"So, you want me to be the oversight for the League? Coordinate logistics?"

"Yes," Bruce said. "It doesn't preclude you from going out into the field, of course."

Barb shakes her head. "I'll probably be keeping in shape, but between this offer and training Stephanie and Cassandra... I may have to retire from the field. And I may try to see if I can balance that against working from inside the system like my dad." She grimaces. "I think it'll be a good distraction from other things..."

"I suppose," Bruce said gently. He wasn't going to get in the middle of Dick and Barbara's romantic issues. Not again.

At least she wasn't crushing on him anymore. That would just be mortifying.

Barb smiled slightly. "So, what would this new position be called? I don't think I should keep calling myself Batgirl. Probably give that name over to Cassandra, since Stephanie appears to want to be Robin."

"You choose," Bruce said. He let her go, and turned to the grandfather clock. He turned the hands of the clock to the right time, and it opened up. "I've gotten yelled at enough for being a... 'Domineering control freak'?"

The redhead snorted.

"Geez, Alfred must be worn pretty thin if he's calling you _that_ already," Barbara said. She shook her head. "Please tell me you're going to make him take a vacation?"

"Since when can I _make_ him do anything?" Bruce asked dryly. Barbara chuckled.

"Good point," she said. She tapped her lips. "I guess I'll talk to the girls about it. Use it to bond with them, figuring out a name."

"Good," Bruce said. He sighed, and rubbed his temples. He usually didn't let anyone see how exhausted he was.  
"Bruce, get some sleep," Barbara said, in the same tone he'd heard those words over and over again. Bruce glanced at her.

"Pot calling the kettle black?"

"Oh, that's just rich. Now, get going," Barbara threatened. Bruce glared at her. She glared back, crossing her arms under her breasts.

"It's only been two days without. I've gone through worse," he argued.

"That's not an excuse. Don't make me get Alfred," Barb waved a finger in his face.

" _You're_ the one who said he needed more rest," Bruce countered.

"And he'll get _less_ rest if he has to worry about you!" Barbara retorted.

Bruce glared. Barbara glared.

After a long, long while… Bruce closed his eyes. "Fine," he ground out.

"Hey, you made us your sidekicks," Dick called from the doorway, grinning smugly.

"And I'm paying for it. I know," Bruce replied dryly.

"Welcome to fatherhood," Barbara managed to giggle.

"It's going to be a long road," Bruce sighed. Yet there was still the ghost of a smile on his lips. The closest he could get to a real one.

"Yeah… But we'll be there with you," Dick said, nodding over at Bruce… And then at Barbara. She nodded back. Bruce nodded back.

* * *

 **Three Months Later…**

* * *

Kevin Winslow was not a particularly sophisticated man. In the wake of alien invasions and the true powers of this world uniting, he kept at the only thing he was any good at: Being muscle for other's ambitions and taking what he wanted.

This is why he was in a jewelry store in the Finger Shopping Mall, smashing the displays and scooping up the expensive contents with one hand. He grinned over at his buddies, all ransacking the place as he was. It was dark, the lights out all over the place: Along with the security systems.

"Sure the Bat'll be a no show?" He asked his comrade, Jim. Jim had gotten them this gig, and he grinned back with the same reckless confidence.

"The Justice League's dealin' with some junk overseas. The Bat's with them, and the cops are still trying to keep order after the Imps invaded." Jimmy swung his baseball bat at a female mannequin, one among many in the dark mall. "We're set! Who's gonna stop us?"

He swung his bat at another female mannequin-This one in some kind of black outfit. Some kind of gimp suit, maybe-

The "mannequin's" arm shot up and stopped Jimmy's bat cold. Icy fear and shock dropped into Kevin's stomach as Jimmy gasped. Then Jimmy gasped out in pain, falling back, as the "mannequin" stuck him so fast Kevin could barely make out the movements! Jimmy fell back, slamming into a display.

Kevin drew his piece, trying to get the gun on the dark demon or whatever it was! He fired, his shots booming loudly in the store as the rest of their gang looked and saw. He didn't know if they could see what he did though, in the light cast by the muzzle flashes:

It… Was _shaped_ like a girl. All in black. Bat ears on her head. A winged cape swinging wildly behind her like beating wings. And she was _dodging his bullets as she raced up to him!_

The first blow hit his temple, then his stomach, kidneys, and finally his chest. Pain filled his body as his limbs refused to obey his brain. He dropped down and slumped back, barely able to make out the dark female figure as she blurred and went after the others. They all drew their guns and fired wildly, but it didn't matter: The _thing_ brought them down relentlessly, so fast: It couldn't be human!

"Funny thing about the human body," said a female voice above him. Kevin managed to lift his aching head atop his pain filled neck. He looked into wide, white lensed eyes on a smiling face. Wild blonde hair cascaded back from her head, held up with a simple green headband. Her outfit was red and greed and yellow, and she bore a golden "R" on her chest. "We only use maybe a small fraction of what we can really muscle out of it. There are martial arts that let you tap into _all_ of it. And she knows them!"

She grinned widely.

"Isn't it awesome?" She asked. Kevin tried to speak, but the Girl Robin pressed her finger over his lips.

"Now now, none of that. You're going to tell me exactly what I want to know about your boss," she said sweetly. Kevin saw, out of the corner of his eye, another if his men sneaking up on the Girl Robin. He tried to keep himself calm, now that hope was in sight: Some crazy broad trying to be Robin couldn't possibly manage against a full grown man.

A full grown man who swung his arms out to grab her from behind… And got a taser slammed into his chest, sending him convulsing to the floor in a heap. The Girl Robin turned back to Kevin, still all smiles.

"He really is just too noisy, isn't he?" Robin asked, letting the taser hang over Kevin's head. "See, I'm not as good as Batgirl-"

"Black Bat!" The she-demon shouted as she flung Big Eddie through a clothing display. Robin sighed and shook her head.

"Sorry, _Black Bat_ , at the fighting thing. So I have to get more creative with gadgets and stuff. Like this taser! It's super painful and it makes you wet your pants. Sooo… How's about you tell me what I want to know, and you don't get to go to the lock up with wet pants? Sound fair?" The Girl Robin's grin widened to almost Joker level proportions as she spun the taser between her fingers.

Kevin Winslow was not a sophisticated man. He knew the world was too big for him to comprehend. But he knew when he was screwed.

Robin and Black Bat tied up the thugs and escaped up to the rooftop of the mall. Robin sighed at Black Bat, who was stalking to the edge of the roof. She hurried to catch up.

"Come on! It was a slip of the tongue!" She complained.

Black Bat's mask was expressionless, but it was easy to tell when she was glaring. Robin sighed again, and shrugged.

"All right. I'm sorry. I really am. Forgive me?" She asked. Black Bat tilted her head thoughtfully… Then nodded. Robin squealed and hugged her. "Aww!"

" _If you two could focus?"_ Barbara's voice came over the radio earsets. Robin sighed, reluctantly pulling back from Black Bat.

"Go for Robin and Black Bat," she replied.

" _I've got an address for the guy our pigeon spilled. I've got the layout and the defenses. Think you can handle it?"_ She asked.

"Of course, mighty Oracle," Robin replied, saluting even though Barbara couldn't see it.

" _Don't you forget it,"_ Barbara chuckled. " _Now, get going you two!"_

Robin and Black Bat pulled their grapnel guns, firing them almost as one. They swung off into the night, the wind rushing past their ears.

Batman may have been operating on a more global scale… But he still left his city an effective defense.

* * *

 **And how was that?**


	10. Chapter 10

**_A Little Less Conversation, a Little More Action Please_**

A DCAU Plus fanfiction project

 _This adventure is set in Dakota during "Secret Origins". This section was written_ _with help from TempestK_

* * *

 **Darkest Night**

* * *

Ebon felt his lips curl, not that it was really visible to anyone. He'd been secured up in one of his backup hideouts, killing time while his brother got all domestic, and the he _ro_ was distracted by the other petty players making their attempts at _his_ throne. And then the god-damn sky came a-tumbling down. Alien invaders, worldwide. He remembered the footage from Metropolis, when the big blue boyscout had been brainwashed and in a conquering mood, but it hadn't had quite the same impact. But these pale fuckers were everywhere, like maggots on rotting meat.

Not that they were all bad, their preference for the dark made his range pretty much unlimited. He could open up a shadowport to any number of major scores, and no one would notice because they were too busy running around like fools with their heads up their asses, wailing for their Statics and Supermen to descend from on high and save them... He shook himself, sometimes he thought that incarnating as living darkness had affected his thinking. Either way, he'd been perfectly fine to just sit back and wait. Maybe offer his talents to the things if they won, always best to get your foot in the door if a bigger, badder crew was stepping up on your turf. Made it that much easier to take your place at the top.

But now he had Dakota's "favored son" glarin' at him, the traitors from his failed Night Breed having led him right to Ebon's door. He clamped down on his temper, seeing Adam at the kid's shoulder, along with their white-bread tagalong, Gear. And at the back was a masked girl; She-Bang, that's her name. Ebon's crew was at the ready, but he'd held up a hand. The hero was too noble to come here like this to start a fight, not openly. He was predictable like that. (He ruthlessly shoved the memories of this little punk getting the drop on him and making him look a fool down. He'd been letting his anger get the better of him too often, he was the one in control here!)

Steepling his hands, Ebon leaned forward, one brow arched. "Well, well, well. Look what the rat's dragged in." The Night Breed all flinched, Brick House visibly angry as she clenched her fists. He smirked, not that they could see it. "To what do I owe the pleasure, he _ro_? I ain't been doing anything worth a personal visit. Shiv?" The psychopath made a show of checking a ratty notebook, before manifesting a set of spinning blades and turning it into confetti.

"Looks like your schedule's all booked boss. You want me to show em the door?" Some days Ebon wondered if Shiv had come away from their brief contact with the Joker more or _less_ sane than when he'd first been recruited.

Static didn't look impressed. "Ebon, I don't know if you've noticed, but the world is ending up there!" he gestures overhead as a tremor passes through the ground and dust showers down. Ebon snorted.

"Just cause I like it dark don't mean I keep myself _in_ the dark. So the norms are getting a taste of what it's like to be on the other end of fear for once. Matter of fact, I kinda like their style. Show the iron fist before ya give em the velvet gloves, yeah?" All of the Meta-Breed gave him sidelong looks, but he ignored them. Not even Hotstreak was willing to contest his control of the crew right now.

Static didn't look impressed though. In fact he looked angry. "Look, they don't care about any of our problems or differences! They want to wipe us all out! ALL OF US!" Ebon sat up straight at that, while Static continued. "They see us as roaches they have to gas to move into their new home!"

Internally, Ebon cursed, this wasn't as clean as he'd thought from listening to the radio chatter. But he persisted in digging in his heels. "You really think the pigs are gonna let us walk afterwards even if we do help you, provided we win?"

Gear and Adam gave him incredulous looks, while Static looked ready to tear out his dreads. "Is going to jail really worse than THE ENTIRE HUMAN RACE BEING EXTERMINATED?!"

Shiv actually started to look concerned as more dust showered down. "Um, I hate to say it boss, but he's got a point. I don't think they're gonna see us as a side dish; just another plate on the buffet."

Static persisted, pointing at Ebon. "Priorities, man! You can break out later and go back to your turf wars if we survive! Can't do that when we're all dead, can we?!" He looked like he'd swallowed a lemon before continuing. "I'd prefer you not, but I have to take what I can get right now!"

Carmendillo slavered as the penny dropped. "Man, this'll pay my tab at food joints for months. And hey, maybe even get me a date! I'm in."

Hotstreak shrugged, flames licking at his shoulders and hair. "Ah, what the hell. Might was well go out like a supernova. Give those pasty freaks some nice burn scars to remember me by."

Static pressed his advantage as the rest of the meta-Breed wavered "I'm not asking you to reform. I'm asking you to see that if we don't work together, everything you ever wanted, needed, or had will be gone. Taken by a bunch of alien assholes!"

Ebon say the way the wind was swinging, and decided to go out on his terms. "Okay then, lets get one thing straight he _ro_. We do this, I don't want any bitching about putting these freaks under. We play, we play street rules. Double-tap, you get me?"

Static looks pained, but slowly nods: "If that's what it takes... Then all right."

Hotstreak whistles, as Talon and Aquamaria both get wide-eyed. "Damn, he's not fucking around."

Gear spoke up at that point, looking like he desperately wished to be anywhere else. "Frankly, we need to go all out anyway. These things are approaching Superman levels of strength. And they can shapeshift." Static nodded "Yeah, that's why."

Ebony scoffed. "Copycat shit, nothing original about em. And they've given me a stacked deck." He turns to the rest of the Meta-breed. Time to hoist the colors then. "Open season gang! Lets show these fuckers a Dakota welcome!" The Meta-Breed howled, psyching themselves up, before Gear cut through the noise.

"Hang on! I've got a plan that gives us the highest possible chance of survival, but I'm going to need everyone's help." That caught some people's attention, putting a lid on the rising fighting spirits. Gear smiled devilishly. "I think I've figured out their weakness."

Static looked surprised, before shaking his head and making a 'go-on' gesture. "Well don't keep it to yourself!"

Carmendillo leans in, looking curious.. "I'm all ears too, no way I'm matching superman strength head on."

Gear's smirk expanded. It was actually a little creepy, even for Ebon. "The first thing these guys did was block out the sun. Those huge towers are a huge expense in terms of resources and energy. So why do it?"

Static snapped his fingers. "... They hate natural sunlight!"

Gear nodded. "Or can't stand it this close to the sun."

Shiv pouted, snapping his own fingers in disappointment. "And I left my tanning bed in the other hideout. Darn."

Talon rolled her eyes as people turned to look at the weapon generator. "The sad part is, he's serious."

Gear shook his head. "It wouldn't have been powerful enough anyway. But the fusion lab at Alva Industries can create a small, artificial sun strong enough it could kill every single Imperium in the city..."

Ebonscoffed. "Except for any fools underground. And trust me, I know the underground, there's plenty of places to hide."

Gear's smile took on a positively evil quality. "I've got that covered, too. Hotsteak can manipulate energized plasma, and Static can control electromagnetism. And you, Ebon, can open up crossrips between two places. Between the three of you, you can control the energy of the miniature sun and send it anywhere we need it." He continued, his pet robot projecting several complex diagrams into the air. "And we'll need Rubberband Man and Permafrost to keep the entire thing insulated and cool enough that we won't all die... and everyone else has to defend us while we get it ready."

Ebon looks dubious, before shaking his head in resignation. "This kills me, I better get a fucking monument right next to the EMTs."

Rubberband Man scoffed. "Feh, what are you worried about? I'll be the one absorbing millions of volts."

Ebon flipped him the bird. "Kiss off bro."

Static moved between them, looking serious. "It's risky. But it's this or repeat the Alamo. And I don't want to go out wearing a coonskin cap. Bad for my image. And if Gear says it's our best shot, it's our best shot."

Shiv clapped his hands together, grinning maniacally. "Lets cut to the chase then!" Groans echoed all throughout the hideout.

Static shook his head, giving Shiv a light glare coupled with a pitying look. "You hung around Joker the most, didn't you?"

Shiv just grinned as he formed serrated blades on his forearms.

Ebon rolled his shoulders, limbering up. This was going to be the fight of his life. He couldn't help the thrill that shot through him at that thought, a chance to prove how powerful he _really_ was.

* * *

 **My only complaint? There isn't more.**


	11. Chapter 11

**_A Little Less Conversation, a Little More Action Please_**

A DCAU Plus fanfiction project

 _This adventure is set after "Secret Origins"._

* * *

 **Stephanie: Robin's Duty**

* * *

"So, Monitor Duty is just... Sitting and staring at screens, right?" Robin asked cheerfully, following Batman down the exit ramp of the Javelin into the Watchtower proper. She was barely able to keep herself from jumping for joy: She was _in space!_ **_SPAAAAACE!  
_**  
Right. Stay cool.

"Someone has to do it," Batman stated. Robin nodded, her eyes flicking all over the place as they left the hangar bay and entered the central module of the space station. Robin jumped up and down a bit, testing the artificial gravity.

"So... Call me crazy but the station isn't spinning. So how is it generating gravity? Shouldn't we be floating?" She asked. Batman allowed himself the barest smirk.

"A little human ingenuity and Kryptonian help got us graviton field emitters. They can simulate gravity without the mass required," he explained.

"I'm guessing the full explanation has a lot of math and stuff that would go over my head, right?" Robin asked.

"Probably. For now," Batman replied with a nod. Robin grinned.

"I saw that! That grin of yours! You love geeking out over tech toys!"

"I take pride in the hard work of the people I employ," Batman said blandly as they headed into an elevator. Robin shook her head.

"I bet you and Nightwing look over the Batmobile and make happy man grunt noises," she teased. "You _are_ normal... Somewhere. Deep down."

"Hmph," Batman grunted, "don't let it get around."

"My lips are sealed," Robin said cheerfully, making a zipping motion over her lips. The doors of the elevator opened, and Wonder Woman was standing in front of them. The Princess of Themiscyra raised an eyebrow and smiled warmly at the two.

"Hello Batman," she said, "and I assume you're his new Robin?"

Robin tried very, very hard not to squeal like a fangirl. Sure, Superman was her favorite but Wonder Woman was _so cool too!_ Who couldn't love a magical Greek Amazon warrior cutting aliens down with a sword?!

"Yes," she said, managing to keep her voice level. "It's... An honor to meet you," she said earnestly. Diana smiled, and it was like the sun rising in how it made her feel.

"Likewise, Little Sister. It is an honor to have you fight alongside us," she said with a nod.

Robin managed to keep herself from grinning like an idiot. She settled for smiling back like a baby who hadn't a clue of what was going on.

"I've trained her, with help from my associates. She's competent," Batman stated, a bit more gruffly than usual. The spell was broken and Robin looked over at Batman. She then looked over at Diana, who had shifted her smile over to the Dark Knight.

"By your standards, that's a glowing recommendation," Diana observed.

"I don't mince words," he replied.

"I noticed," Diana said, her smile warming just a bit. "There's a new supply of frozen mocha. I'll go get us some."

Robin and Batman stepped out of the elevator, letting Diana enter it. The Amazon Princess's eyes wandered up and down Batman, very briefly, before she vanished behind the elevator doors. Batman walked along the long catwalk to the Monitor Womb station, as Robin followed him. Batman sat down at the computers, and Robin leaned against the chair. She watched him cycle through the monitoring systems and do a standard systems check, as well as checking the status of the Watchtower itself before she said anything.

"... She's so into you," Robin pronounced. Batman didn't respond. Her mouth formed an "O". "You like her too!"

"Nothing of the sort," Batman stated in a tone that anyone else would have thought was his unchanged, gruff register. "Diana is a trusted friend and valuable colleague. That's all."

"Look, I'm not the world's greatest detective, but if even _I_ can see things going on, maybe you should, ya know... Make a move?" Robin suggested. Batman shook his head.

"There's too much work to do. A romantic relationship isn't part of the plan."

Robin rolled her eyes behind her mask. "Does she need a whip and to say she's a bad girl you need to punish? Come on!"

Batman spared a glare at the Girl Wonder. She held her hands up.

"Sorry. Touchy subject, I know. But I'm just saying! You can't let a few bad relationships make you give up on love forever! She's not a cat burglar or a terrorist! Or a plant person!" She paused and thought about it. "I think?"

"Drop it, Robin," Batman warned. Robin sighed and crossed her arms over her chest.

"Fine," she grumbled. She glanced back and saw Diana walking silently up to them. She looked back at Batman, and saw a red warning icon on the screens.

"Robin, there's a secondary bus undervolt in Section 32B," Batman stated. "Go check it out."

Robin arched a brow, which her mask perfectly emulated. She then grinned.

"No problem Batman! I'll find it and fix it! No matter how long it takes! You two can get along fine without me," she said, dropping a wink Diana's way. The Amazon Princess started, and then winked back. Robin barely contained a titter, before she fired off a grapnel and swung away.

"She's enthusiastic," Diana said to Batman, as Stephanie descended to the lower levels of the station. Batman grunted.

"She has potential," he allowed.

Robin made it to the lower level, and checked on the secondary bus. She found a computer terminal nearby, and while running the diagnostics... Had an idea.

She produced her mini-Batcomputer and plugged it into the USB port on the terminal. She flipped through a few settings. The lights above dimmed a bit. Her earpiece radio buzzed.

" _Robin, the lights dimmed up here,"_ Batman said, " _something wrong?"  
_  
"I'm checking on it Batman," Robin replied, flipping through her music list. "Don't worry. I've got it. In the meantime, enjoy some music."

 _"That's not necessary,"_ Batman growled. Robin smiled brightly.

"Sorry Batman, can't hear you! Let me check on the comms system, I'll see if it's functioning properly," she said as she cut off the link. She found the song she wanted, and hit play.

Sure, Batman would probably make her defrag the Batcomputer or wash the Batmobile, but it was worth it in the pursuit of love.

Above, the strains of a love ballad began playing through the Watchtower. Batman scowled more deeply at the computer screens, very deliberately trying not to look at Diana. Who was humming along to the music.

"It's very nice," she pronounced. "Very good to dance to."

"Mmhm," Batman grunted, already planning on several chores to make Robin know just how annoyed this was making him. Diana rested a hand on his shoulder.

"You know," she said, "I haven't learn much about dancing. And given the social functions I'm attending, I could use some instruction. In order to make sure I don't embarrass the League?"

Batman stiffened. "... I see," he said.

"And it would be a shame to waste the music. Don't you agree? While we have some time?" Diana further pressed. Batman repressed a sigh. He slowly rose. He turned to Diana.

"... Feet placement is key," he stated. "As is hand placement."

Diana beamed at him as she obeyed his follow up instructions, placing his hand at the small of her back while she placed her hand behind his neck. He talked her through the steps, slowly.

He absolutely did not feel like smiling. He didn't feel a thrill from her finger tips on his shoulder, even through his armor. And he certainly wasn't enjoying himself.

But he would lessen Robin's punishment... Just a little.

* * *

 **Why yes, I do ship Batman/Wonder Woman. Why do you ask?**


	12. Chapter 12

**_A Little Less Conversation, a Little More Action Please_**

 _A DCAU Plus fanfiction project_

 _This adventure is set during the Justice League episode "Injustice for All"._

* * *

 **Kori: New Beginning**

* * *

Dick and Barbara had much to talk about: Kori understood. And she bore no grudge against Barbara. She was, by all accounts, a good person and a great heroine.

Too obsessed with certain people's approval at times, perhaps, but who was without flaw?

Kori decided to trust Dick and Barbara, and return later. Soon she was flying over the countryside, flying north to Metropolis.

It didn't take long to find the address Dick had given her. Not that she could miss the dull gray, battle damaged factory, with the dozens of automated defenses around and on it.

She flew in front of the front doors, adjusted her long hair, and knocked. A moment later, the door opened. A girl, around fifteen years old, wearing white and black segmented battle armor, peered at her through the doorway. Kori smiled.

"Hello. I'm a friend of Nightwing. Is Supergirl here?"

The girl blinked slowly. "Starfire?" She asked in soft, tired awe. Kori nodded.

"Yes. And you are?"

"Natasha Irons," she said, extending a hand with a giddy smile. Starfire shook it... And then moved in to hug her tightly. Natasha yelped at the strength of the embrace.

"I see you too fought to defend our home," Kori said, eyeing the carbon scoring and dents in the armor. Natasha grinned, looking bashful.

"Well... I couldn't let my uncle and Supergirl fight alone," she said. Starfire beamed.

"Good answer..."

The inside of the factory building was spartan, but comfortable and lived in. Supergirl herself was lying under a sunlamp, still wearing bandages under street clothes. She opened her eyes and looked up at Natasha and Kori in surprise.

"No need to get up," Kori said, holding up her hand. "I hope you know who I am, Kara In-Ze."

"I do. Natasha is a big fan," Kara said, smiling. Natasha again just grinned eagerly. She circled around to stand along Kara, gripping the edge of the sun bed in excitement.

"So... If you're here, then you're going to ask... Please, tell me you're going to ask it!"

Kori laughed softly. "And take all the suspense out of it? Very well. Kara, the Teen Titans are reforming. And we would very much like you to join." She looked at Natasha. "And you as well, Natasha."

Kara chuckled as Natasha's eyes and mouth opened to their widest possible limits. "I think she's sold."

"Hell yes I'm sold!" Natasha crowed.

"LANGUAGE!" Shouted a deep voiced man from down the hallway. Natasha flushed indignantly, but nodded her eagerness.

"Absolutely! And Kara-Kara, you'll come too, right? Please say that you will?"

"If I get to choose my room," Kara stated, almost impishly. Starfire laughed and nodded.

"I think that can be arranged," she said.

"I don't suppose Batgirl will be part of it, too?" Kara asked eagerly. Starfire shook her head.

"I don't think she will. I am sorry," Kori said. Kara frowned, while Natasha rolled her eyes.

"Hey, Batgirl isn't even a teenager."

"Neither is she!" Kara protested, pointing at Starfire. Natasha scowled.

"So? She's a founding member! It's different!"

"The hell it is!" Kara retorted.

"LANGUAGE!" Shouted John Henry Irons again. Kori laughed gently at the two girls' contrite faces over the reprimand.

Yes, they would do just fine as Titans...

* * *

 **Maureen**

* * *

Maureen O'Conner rubbed her hands as she stood up from her books and laptop. She stretched her hands over her head and grunted. She turned and walked out of the church, closing her eyes as the sun shone down onto her skin. She sucked in a breath, and let it out as cold mist.

She looked out onto the city street. Aide workers were rebuilding the damaged buildings across from the church, and people were walking the sidewalks. More than a few pedestrians gave her a curious glance. One stopped in front of her, camera phone out.

"Hey... You're one of the Bang Babies, right? One who helped fight the aliens?" He asked, rather loudly. Maureen shrank back instinctively, but managed a nod.

"Y-Yeah. I helped-"

"You were the ice girl, right?" He asked, looking eager. He began snapping pictures, as other people began to congregate around her. All eager, all smiling. Maureen rubbed her hands together, her anxiety increasing.

"Y-Yes... Yes, I am. I just helped out, that's all-"

"I heard she kept the fusion plant from exploding, while Static shone that mini sun around to kill those damn things!" Another woman said. More people took her picture, more people reached out to touch her. Maureen tried looking for a way out, but the doors to the church were blocked.

"Um, can I-I just helped, I didn't really-!"

More people came, with more questions and more eagerness and Maureen felt her heart pound in her chest. She was being overwhelmed!

"Your name is Permafrost, right? Are you joining the Justice League?"

"How old are you? Can I get an interview?"

"You're so cold, how do you stand it?"

The wind began to pick up, and snow formed around her. The crowd shrank back as a small gale formed around her. She turned and ran, struggling past people. She got to the doors of the church and slammed them shut, before locking the doors. She panted, loudly gasping for breath, as the carpet and door frosted over at her touch.

"Maureen? Maureen!"

She felt a warm body hug her, and she found a center. She took deeper, slower breaths as Reverend Anderson soothed her. She shook her head.

"I'm... I'm sorry," she mumbled. "There were so many and-!"

"It's all right, Maureen, it's all right," the reverend spoke, rubbing her head gently despite the cold. "I'll deal with them. There's someone waiting in my office-"

"Not a reporter, please," Maureen begged. Anderson chuckled.

"No... I think you'll like this visitor. He wants to offer you a place at his school."

"School?" Maureen asked, confused. The pounding on the doors got louder. The reverend snorted.

"You'll see. Let me deal with these people," he stated firmly. Maureen nodded, rose, and walked in the direction of the reverend's office. As she did, she could hear Reverend Anderson yelling abour hellfire and damnation. She couldn't help a smile at that.

She stepped into the office, a warm and comfortable room with old leather furniture, pictures of friends, family and church functions on the walls, and bookshelves full of reverential volumes and texts. All this was familiar.

What wasn't familiar was the green Labrador sitting on the couch, holding a scroll closed by wax in his jaws. Maureen blinked.

"... A dog?" She asked. The dog flicked its head, and tossed the scroll to her. She caught it, then looked back at the dog incredulously. The dog panted happily, wagging his tail. Maureen shruuged, and broke the wax seal. She unrolled the papers, first finding a small yellow note from an office pad. She read that firsr, recognizing the signature.

"'Dear Maureen, it's on the level. Sorry I couldn't be here myself, got busy. But Gear and I will see you soon, whether or not you accept. Sincerely, Static,'" she read aloud. She looked over at the dog, who nodded. She frowned, and looked at the scroll.

It was a photoshopped note, trying to resemble a letter from Hogwarts. But instead of a magical school, the invitation was...

"...'Dear Maureen O'Conners, you are cordially invited to join...'" She gasped aloud, ""The Teen Titans?!'"

She looked at the green dog, comprehension dawning over her face. "Beast Boy?!"

The dog shifted into a gangly green young man, who wore a white jumpsuit with red highlights and a large, friendly grin.

"Actually I go by Changeling now, but always nice to meet a fan," he said. "Static and Gear are joining up, and you too. If you want?"

Maureen smiled broadly, squeezing the paper between her fingers. "I... How could I refuse...?"

* * *

 **How's that? A different take on things.**


	13. Chapter 13

**_A Little Less Conversation, a Little More Action Please_**

 _A DCAU Plus fanfiction project_

 _This adventure is set during the Justice League episode "Injustice for All"._

* * *

 **Stephanie: Interrogation**

* * *

"Come on Copperhead! Why don't you get smart and tell us what we want to know?" Superman demanded, glaring across the interrogation table. Copperhead smirked, looking contemptuously across the table back at the Man of Steel and the Flash.

"Oh, what?"

"You're just making this harder on yourself, you know," Flash said, trying to be kind. "Just tell us where Lex and the rest of your friends are holed up, and we can work something out."

Copperhead snorted. "And I'm not one of your Rogues. You're not going to appeal to me."

Superman stood up and walked around the table. He seized Copperhead with one hand, and slammed him against the wall. He glared, his face full of thunder. Copperhead smirked, baring his fangs.

"Is this the part where I get scared enough to squeal? Come on Boy Scout, you ain't got the guts."

Superman scowled, his frustration obvious. He couldn't sense anything from Copperhead that might give a hint or clue as to where the rest of his gang was. Shade's teleportation hadn't left anything he could see, even with his incredible senses.

That said, he could pick up something with his X Ray vision: The new Robin facepalming outside the interrogation room. She waved her hands, gesturing for them to come out. Superman sighed and set him down. Copperhead smirked back.

"Going somewhere?"

"We'll be back," Superman stated coldly. He exited the room, Flash following a step behind. They turned to the young Robin as they closed the door behind them. Robin sighed, crossing her arms over her chest. She shook her head.

"Seriously, you guys are so bad at this!" She cried.

Superman raised an eyebrow. Flash scoffed.

"Oh, and you think you can do better, Pollyanna?" Flash asked sarcastically. Like most of Batman's crew, Robin held her ground and glared back.

"Can't do any worse than you," Robin snarked back. She sighed, and shook her head. "Look, just follow my lead, okay?"

Flash looked over at Superman. Superman glanced back at him, and then back at Robin. The woman was young, but her heartbeat, while elevated, was steady. He nodded to Robin. Robin nodded back, taking a deep breath.

"All right. Don't come in unless I signal for you," she said. Flash's eyes widened.

"Are you sure you'll be okay? I mean-This guy did poison your boss."

"I'm sure," Robin said firmly. She walked to the door and entered. She shut the door closed, and looked evenly up at Copperhead. The supercriminal smirked back up at her, lounging in his uncomfortable chair.

"Oh, the Bat's new Bird, huh? Listen sweetie, run home and maybe I won't poison you like I did your sugar daddy-"

Robin pulled out a canister from her utility belt, and sprayed it into his face. He slipped off his chair, gasping for breath at the harsh scent in his nostrils and eyes. Flash moved to enter, but Superman set a hand on his shoulder. Flash looked back at Superman, and then back at the interrogation room. Copperhead wiped his face, and snarled up at Robin.

"You little bitch-I'll-I'll-!" Copperhead got up. Robin remained calm-Frighteningly so as she gazed dispassionately at him.

"Four minutes, fifty five seconds," she stated matter of factly. This made the criminal pause, confused.

"Huh?" Was the snake themed supervillain's response. Robin sighed, as though explaining something to someone extremely slow.

"That's how long you've got to live," she said. Copperhead gasped.

"Wh-What?!"

"I just sprayed you with an untraceable, odorless neurotoxin," Robin stated, still slowly and calmly. "It's laced with nicotine and tar. You're a smoker, so it'll just look like an extremely unfortunate case of a stroke. Probably brought on by stress of your criminal lifestyle and a side effect of your meta gene."

"WHAT?! GUARD! GUARD!" Copperhead bellowed in rage, he lunged for her. Robin deftly evaded, hopping onto the table. She flipped out of the way of his next lunge, landing safely on the other side of the small room. He glared at her, seething. "YOU LITTLE-!"

"Oh no! You're accelerating the effects," Robin said, as though observing a paragraph in a dull book. "That's not good."

Copperhead felt his pulse quicken. He felt light headed. He staggered back, as Robin crossed her arms over her chest.

"Y-You can't... They'll throw you in jail...!" Copperhead gasped, trembling. Robin's blank mask was replaced with an expression of pure innocence: Wide eyes, trembling lips, and flushed cheeks.

"Oh Mister Security Guards!" Robin said in a wavering, sad voice. "I just feel awful that poor Mister Copperhead died! I did everything I could, but you know, I'm so new at this. Superman, hug me. I failed! I'm so, so sorry~!"

Copperhead grasped at straws, feeling weaker already.

"S-Superman... Flash-"

"Are. Outside," Robin stated, cold and calm again. "And this room is shielded against them courtesy of one of Batman's gadgets. They'll only come in if you do something stupid, like attack me. And then you'll die. And between you or me... Who will they believe?"

"You're crazy," Copperhead heaved in horror. "Th-The Bat doesn't kill!"

"Oh no..." And here Robin gained a large, and disturbing smile. "That's what he has me for..."

Copperhead trembled, falling onto his butt on the floor. Robin leaned over, her smile still shining in the florescent light.

"Now, you have three minutes and thirty seconds to tell me something that will make me give you the antidote." She held up a vial, and shook it deliberately. "Tick tock..."

Two minutes later, Robin emerged from the interrogation room. Flash was staring in shock (and some respect) at her. Superman looked like he was trying not to smile.

"I've got an address," she said. Superman nodded.

"I see..."

"So… What exactly did you spray him with?" Flash said. He gestured to Superman with his head.

"Supes told me not to worry but-"

"Some of my dad's terrible cologne," Robin said, with a gentle smile. "Makes your eyes water and your skin heat up. Helps he's gullible."

Superman shook his head.

"I didn't think I'd meet someone who would make Batman look like the good cop," the Man of Steel said gently. Robin snorted.

"Please. He's the bad cop. I'm the _worse_ cop."

* * *

 **Stephanie is very fun to write.**


	14. Chapter 14

**_A Little Less Conversation, a Little More Action Please_**

 _A DCAU Plus fanfiction project_

* * *

 **Barbara: Reboot**

* * *

The Walker Music Hall was an old concert hall at the edge of Gotham's financial district. As a result of the changing times, when the hall was nor hosting music it hosted conventions in its elegant, Georgian decorated interior. This year saw the Gotham Tech Expo, and the high tech devices and displays seemed in sharp contrast to old wooden balconies and displays of ancient instruments. A study in contrasts, Barbara mused, as she showed her ID to the security guards and walked through the scanner check points.

She joined the crowd moving through the halls, studying the schedule for events on her phone. She made a left turn for one of the halls filled with meeting rooms. She read each crisply framed room number, before finding the right one. She took a deep breath and put on a professional smile. She opened the door, and entered the small room, scanning around per trained habit.

It was a windowless room, done in modern office decor with a sterile black meeting table in the center. A few cheap office chairs surrounded the table, pressed uniformly under it.

Barbara took a breath and relaxed: She was the first one here. Good. She walked around the room, checking everything. Satisfied for the moment it was all safe, she sat at the head of the table and steepled her fingers in front of her. She adjusted her glasses, her blouse and her waistcoat.

The right first impression was half the battle, and Barbara was an expert in it.

Sure, this Ted Kord was trying to get Wayne Tech to buy his company so a bit of humility was involved. But just like the thug who managed bravado while being held off a roof at 3 am, anyone at a disadvantage would try to turn things around to their favor.

After fifteen minutes, the door opened. A round faced but muscular man entered, wearing plain khakis and a faded gray T-Shirt advertising a Japanese rock band: JAM Project, in bright colors. His hair was brown and curly and a pair of brown glasses. He was carrying a few boxes, and set them down on the table. Barbara blinked as he continued to look elsewhere.

"Hello... Mister Kord?" She asked. Kord started, looking at her. He smiled.

"... That's it!" He snapped his fingers and quickly pulled out a tablet. He did some calculations, then tapped the tablet.

"Try it now!" He said to the tablet. It beeped in response, and a loud explosion sound emitted from the tablet. Kord examined it, and then sighed.

"Yeah, that didn't work either, huh? Take it back to formula," he ordered. He closed the window and smiled at Barbara.

"Hi! Sorry, that was bugging me all week and somehow, looking at you made it come together! Thanks!" He held out his hand to her, his eyes firmly locked on her eyes. "Ted Kord! Nice to meet you!"

"Uh, Barbara Gordon. You're welcome?" Barbara managed. Ted sat down and smiled at her, as Barbara flipped through her paperwork.

"So," she began, "it seems unusual that you're doing this without lawyers or accountants-"

Ted waved his hands. "I just assumed the initial meeting would be good for more... Private things, first," he said. He pulled out a small blue device and clicked it. An electronic hum filled the air briefly. Ted smiled. "I assume you have your own jammers but I wanted to be extra careful."

Barbara blinked again. This was already confusing. A sneaking suspicion nibbled at the back of her mind, but she kept playing dumb. "If you have security concerns maybe we should have talked about this earlier-?"

"Well, I didn't want what I know getting out in public," Ted said lightly. "For instance: That Wayne Tech has been supporting Batman and is now supporting the Justice League."

Had Barbara been drinking something, she would have spat it out. "E-Excuse me?!"

Ted rummaged in his boxes, and produced several technical diagrams. All of equipment patented by Waynetech and matching tech seen in Batman's vehicles and weapons. Ted smiled, genuinely proud.

"Always need to show your work," Ted admitted. He looked at her intently. "I'm an engineer before anything else. And you can't hide things like this."

Barbara frowned deeply, already off balance but rallying despite this. "If this is some attempt at blackmail, trust me, that isn't going to-"

Ted shook his head rapidly and waved his hands. 'What?! Oh no! No no no! Not what I meant at all, really! Sorry, I'm not good at this." He took a deep breath.

"My dad left me his company when he died. Kord Tech was just a little R and D firm then. I managed to turn it into a billion dollar company with my tech, but the business side of things...? I suck. Seriously. I want to help the world but I can't do that if I futz up the business side of things. So, who better to trust with my tech than someone managing the finances of the greatest heroes on Earth?" Ted grinned and shrugged, looking so sincere and genuine it almost made Barbara blush.

"... And you're telling me this because...?" Barbara tried one last time at subterfuge. Ted winked.

"Well... I think you can understand how I feel," he said. He pointed the index fingers on both of his hands, and held them up on either side of his head. Emulating bat ears on a cowl. Barbara raised an eyebrow... Feeling impressed.

"Okay... This will have to be handled differently," she said quietly. "But I think in light of this-"

Their phones went off simultaneously. Barbara checked hers. A group of out of town villains, the Madniks, were attacking the convention. They could hear screams and booms outside the small room. They stood up immediately.

"I think you should stay here," she said urgently. Ted shook his head.

"Nah. I don't take as long to get into costume. I'll be out to give you privacy in a second."

Barbara blinked again, flushing. "I-Wha-?"

Ted rummaged in his pocket, and pulled out a small, blue scarab shaped device. He plugged it into his phone, which also turned blue and gained six legs. He posed, throwing his arms out and holding the scarab in front of him.

"Blue Beetle, HENSHIN!"

He placed the scarab onto his belt buckle, and it glowed brightly. Barbara had to cover her eyes with a wince. The light faded and she lowered her hand. She gasped in shock.

Ted now wore a nearly skintight blue and lighter blue suit, with armor pieces in key areas. His head was covered in a blue cowl, with yellow tinged goggles over his eyes. He posed a bit dramatically, before pulling on a utility belt.

"Can't fit everything into the morpher; Just the smart fabric. But it saves a lot of time, huh?"

Barbara's inner geek girl was squealing in amorous intent over the tech and the guy-But she stayed focused.

"Y-Yeah! Want to talk about it... Over coffee? After?" She asked, finding herself pushing her hair back over her ear.

Ted smiled, clearly missing the significance of her request. "Sure thing! Always wanted to talk shop with another hero!"

With that, the Blue Beetle ran out of the room, politely shutting it behind him. Barbara grinned and hurriedly got into her Batgirl costume.

If they survived, she had a date...

* * *

 _How's that?_


	15. Chapter 15

**_A Little Less Conversation, a Little More Action Please_**

 _A DCAU Plus fanfiction project_

 _This part written by TempestK._

* * *

 **A Croc's Tale: Or, How Waylon Jones got his groove back.**

* * *

Waylon Jones was many things. A freak, a monster, a man who enjoyed a good plate of gumbo given half a chance. But he wasn't stupid. When the Imperium came calling, he'd jumped ship from Gotham. Let the other crazies try and chew the aliens up, he was headed to Central City. The rogues there were kind of considered laughingstocks, but given they went up against a guy that was literally faster than sound and could hold their own, they'd probably be able to keep the bastards in check. Besides, unlike the Bat's enemies, the Rogues supported each other, according to what he'd heard on the grapevine.

He arrived in Central just as the invasion was hitting it's peak, and Snert had given him a quick rundown on the Code before having him help get one of Trickster's nastier gags moved into position to melt an entire squad of the pallid bastards. It'd been touch and go, but when the sun finally came out he'd gladly helped sweep the sewers for any stragglers that had tried to hide from the sun. The sewers in Central City were... weird. Cleaner, smaller. Seemed to have less _weight_ to them than Gotham. The Rogues were an alright bunch, but even there he felt like an outsider.

All good things must come to an end though. Waylon had laid low, then tried an armored car heist to get some walking money. Unfortunately, while he'd become used to The Bat, his instincts were all wrong for dealing with Flash. Couldn't hit the bastard, and the jokes and jabs kept on opening up old, buried scars. At the end of the fight he was in a frothing rage, screaming at Flash to just "shut up and _die!_ " Once he'd been taken down though, is when things got surreal. Flash had actually _apologized_ to him. To him, Killer fucking Croc. Apparently he was used to banter, back and forth between him and his Rogues. He offered to visit Waylon in holding... but it wasn't to be. Paperwork came in, signed by that bastard Hugo Strange. Croc was trussed up and shipped back to Gotham. Back to Arkham. Flash saw him off, and apologized again, promising to put a good word in with The Bat for him due to his helping out in the invasion. And maybe because he'd been able to calm the Trickster down a couple times when the poor guy had forgotten his meds altogether and nearly hurt himself.

Arkham was just as hellish as he remembered, and the sneering orderlies, the howling patients and leering criminals ate at the little nugget of security and sanity he'd been able to build up for himself while away from Gotham City. Something about this place, it was poison. Got in your head, in your heart, rotted you from the inside out. He remembered Swamp Thing, when he'd first begun becoming something other than human and stumbled across the man/monster in the depths of the Houma bayou, and what he'd said about keeping your balance. If the instincts won, you became little more than a raving beast. But bury them too deep, and you dull yourself, start tripping over your own thoughts in an effort to keep the monster at bay, and turned yourself stupid. But in Arkham, every chance at equilibrium and peace was shattered by billyclubs smacking on cell bars. By maniacal laughter and giggles as a restrained clown and his pretty dupe were wheeled past to their new "improved" cages. Outside, the Bats were increasing. Two girlies that had made the Joker a laughingstock. A Robin that up and vanished, followed by another one that shipped out west. And now the latest one, youngest of them all, and with more anger and killing instinct in him than the rest of the clan combined, with the exception of the second little prick that had vanished. Waylon took his chances where he could, but every time the Bat or one of his kids was there to put him back behind bars. He barely remembered his time outside of Gotham anymore, just an endless cycle of breakout, get the shit kicked out of him, get thrown back in.

Eventually, there was another breakout. There always was. Some days he thought that Strange set them up to field test his latest wackjob theories about the criminal mind and psychosis and junk. (Just because he didn't like talking to his assigned shrink didn't mean he wasn't listening. Guy was a prick anyway, talked to him like he was some short-bus special.) But he was tired, achy and damnit he wanted to be _warm_ for once. His cell was near Freeze and he always felt cold and sluggish.

He'd made a break for it, not causing any trouble that he could, but trying to make his way towards the sea. Get him to open ocean and he could probably swim down the coast for miles. But Gordan had been getting better instructors for the GCPD it seemed. He got cut off, and was forced to hijack an icecream truck to make his escape. After that... he knew tossing the icecream out to back to the kids that were inevitably drawn to the sound of the jingle was making a trail, but he figured with Joker, Freeze _and_ Scarecrow on the loose he'd have been a low priority. And once he got out of the inner city... he almost made it to the ocean, passing the rich estates of the Gothamite elite, people who either didn't have kids, or had raised them to scorn things as pedestrian as the ice cream man.

And then it happened.

He was only a few more estates away from the coast when a little blonde-haired girl, couldn't have been more than five, was bouncing at the side of the road outside of a massive wrought-iron gate. She'd probably saw him coming from one of her family estate's windows, and raced down to meet him. Still young, innocent, and hadn't had a silver spoon crammed in her mouth. He drove past, intent on his goal... and then he made a fatal mistake. He looked back in the mirror. She was standing in the center of the road, a couple of crumbled bills in her hand; face scrunched up as tears threatened to flow, looking absolutely heartbroken.

And in that moment, Waylon remembered how Flash had treated him after their encounter. Against his better judgement, he stopped the truck, opening the doors to hand the kid an ice cream bar at random. Her entire face had lit up as she smiled at him, not recognizing who or what he was. "Thanks Mr. Ice-cream man!" Waylon smiled... before his instincts prickled. Turning cautiously to look to the left, he saw the latest Robin, blade at the ready, standing nearby. And he'd heard a powerful engine getting closer. The little girl was still there, happily gnawing on her ice cream bar. For a split second he considered taking her hostage... but felt a wave of shame sweep over him. He'd heard Joker's "one bad day" commentary a thousand times, everyone in Arkham had. He wasn't going to be hers.

He sat down heavily as the Batmobile pulled up, tossing Robin one of the ice cream bars, and grabbing an orange creamsicle for himself. He'd been cuffed, processed, and put in holding while they sorted out the latest fiasco that Arkham's security had become. And then... the dance changed up its steps. He had a visitor in solitary for once. Nightwing had come down, looking curious. Grabbing a seat, the teen had perched on it like the bird he'd once been named after. Waylon had stared at him for a long couple of minutes, before the younger man had broken the silence.

"So... Croc. What was up with today?" Waylon tilted his head to the side. Nightwing made a circular gesture with one hand. "The whole ice-cream man bit. I mean, you left a trail a mile wide what with dumping out the stuff for the kids rather than stopping. And then you just... stopped. For a little girl. It's kind of a puzzle, and since Riddler is currently managing to handle his OCD enough to not indulge, I thought I'd take a crack at this one instead."

Waylon shrugged as best he could with the manacles and bindings he had on. "She was just a kid. Hadn't hurt nobody, not old enough to start being a snotty rich brat. Figured I could give her an ice cream and be on my way." And then his mouth just kept going. "S'what Flash or Trickster woulda done." Why the hell did he say that?!

Nightwing looked at him curiously. "Wait, what?" He thought for a moment, then snapped his fingers. "Right, the invasion. You ducked out to Central City. How come you didn't stick it out here anyway?"

Waylon grit his teeth, before sighing. The hell with it, not like it mattered. And really he was the first person to ask that aside from Flash. "Gotham's a nasty toxic hole. The rogues here would chew up and spit out anything that tries to take over 'their' turf. But they're lone wolves. And I didn't fancy my chances on getting out alive against a squad of alien invaders if they decided to hit the sewers. Central's Rogues look out for each other though. I may just be dumb muscle, but I was dumb muscle they could use to help. And they'd help me in return." Something that'd been working it's way loose all afternoon, ever since he'd stopped and given that little girl the ice cream bar and given up his shot at freedom, gave way then.

"You ever take a second after beating the shit out of me to think about what my life is like bird-boy? No real home. No close friends. No family I'd be willing to claim. I can't even shop for pants without having the cops called on me, even when I've got money to pay with. No company that ain't bought an' paid for, if you get me. I just... damnit I never wanted to do this shit. And it may have been something little, something that she'll never remember. But I made a little girl happy today. I got a smile that wasn't some villain working out how to use me as his stupid muscle or as a rube. For once in my fucking life I felt good about something I'd done. And then Robin showed up, I could hear your daddy's car coming... and I just didn't want to ruin it by picking a fight I couldn't win, or betraying that little girl's trust by taking her hostage. I knew I was done, so I sat down and had a fucking ice cream bar."

The brat had a weird look on his face, like he'd solved a puzzle but it wasn't the picture on the box. "For real Jones?" Okay, that was new, he'd always been "Croc" to the Bats. Waylon nodded sullenly. With his usual flourish, Nightwing came off of his perch. "I need to make some calls. I can't make any promises... but something's weird here, and I may be able to leverage it."

He'd waited in that cell a _lot_ longer than he'd expected. Going by meals, he'd been here three days before he got another real visitor. One that was quite a surprise. Flash smiled as he sat down in the same chair that Nightwing had used a few days ago. "Hey... um, you mind if I call you Waylon?" Jones shrugged.

"S'what it said on my birth certificate." The bindings weren't nearly as restrictive as Arkham, but they'd managed to snag on a scale on one shoulder, and he couldn't seem to unsnag it. The minor pain had been gnawing at him for the last day, and it was shortening his temper something awful. Flash frowned, leaning forward.

"Hey, um, are you alright?" Yet again, something that had rarely been asked of him, not in seriousness. Or at least not after someone got a good look at his face.

"Snagged scale. Like an ingrown nail. Hurts." Flash considered that for a moment, before he blurred... and suddenly the scale was no longer snagged. Waylon let out a breath of relief, and saw that Flash was still in the same spot... but now he was holding a piece of wire-reinforced cord that was stained with blood.

"Looks like the coating on the cord got worn away. I'll let the guys here know so that no one freaks out." Waylon was about to ask him what they'd freak out _about_... and then the remainder of that cord slid off his body, giving him greater range of movement in his arms and shoulders. Flash smiled at his surprised expression, before taking a seat properly. "So, I kind of got hit up by Nightwing a couple days ago. Wanted to know about your time in Central. He seemed... kinda surprised when I told him about how you had helped out James, and how our little tussle went." Waylon stayed silent, letting the chatty hero fill the void. "So, it looks like there's something seriously hinky with your paperwork at Arkham, and your assigned doc has kind of vanished into thin air. Bats is looking into it now... but I had an idea." He leans forward, looking intent.

"See, I think you might be able to hack it on the outside. The key is to find you a place that'll let you work, and clearing you for a sort of probation. We already both know that Arkham won't cut it. So... I suggested, if you agree to it, we have J'onn, our telepath, make sure you're stable enough to go along with it." One of Waylon's brow ridges rose.

"Okay, so that covers me being able to hack working. But what about the actual job part?"

"That's where I come in." The deep baritone wasn't one that Waylon recognized, but the green and black suit and the in/famous insignia upon it were instantly recognizable. Waylon felt him straighten as Croc stirred, identifying this man as a possible threat on a primal, bone-deep level. "Easy Jones, I'm here because Flash convinced me to help. I've got a friend from my days in the Corps that believes in second chances. If you're cleared by Manhunter you'll be moved out to Dakota City. You'll be set up with one month's rent, and a job in security. You'll be around civilians, but generally you'll just help out around the building on an as-needed basis. There'll be kids there, but I trust Robert to keep them in line, and off of you if you don't want to interact with them."

Waylon stared at them both for a long minute. "Why are you doin' this fer me?" he croaked at last. Green Lantern looked uncomfortable, but Flash gave him an easy smile.

"Because you've shown you've got the potential to change, and it looks like someone was trying to turn you into their own personal psychological time bomb. And I think you deserve better than that. I may not be able to help everyone like I try to do with James, but so far as I'm concerned you were in Central, that makes you one of my Rogues. Which means, I gotta try my best to help you out, y'know?" For a moment Waylon remembered the genuine expression of sorrow and self-recrimination on Flash's face when he'd apologized for the name calling. He nodded slowly.

"I think I kinda do."

A week later, following mountains of paperwork, a visit from a Martian telepath that had noted he'd been influenced by some fear toxins and smile-X fumes that had helped make his mental state less stable, and a hellish purgative regimen that had removed them from his system, Waylon was standing outside the door to the Freeman Community Center, wearing a button-down shirt that was straining at the seams, and a pair of loose slacks. Some of the kids had given him awed and slightly fearful looks as they passed by to use the basketball courts, though more of them were paying attention to the "incognito" Green Lantern beside him. As the door opened, he startled as a fast-moving kid with dreadlocks barreled straight into him. Before he could steady the guy, Stewart had a hand on his shoulder.

"Running around without checking what's in front of you again Virgil?" he asked drily. The late teen shook his head, before his eyes lit in recognition.

"Uncle John! Cool, pops didn't say you were in town!" Waylon was treated to seeing the former Marine receive an enthusiastic hug from the young man. Who then turned to look at him with curiosity and recognition. "Woah..." His brow creased. "Wait, pops said something about a new security guard. Oh man, you're Killer Croc!"

"His name is Waylon Jones; Virgil." A stern voice spoke up as a slightly obese man with a flattop haircut and glasses strode out of the office. "And yes, he'll be on staff as our new security person." He turned, and then did the bravest thing that Waylon had ever seen a normal man do. Smile at him, and hold out his hand to shake. "Robert Hawkins. I'll be your boss, but this place is family. I hope you'll become another member of it." Waylon actually found himself choking up a little as he took the hand and gently shook it.

"I think I'd like that."

* * *

Edit: part of this story was lifted from the works of BiteMeTechie, specifically her story "Sweet Tooth". Credit where it's due for the inspiration.


	16. Chapter 16

**_A Little Less Conversation, a Little More Action Please_**

 _A DCAU Plus fanfiction project_

 _Set roughly right after "Destroyer", the last episode of JLU:  
_

* * *

Eighteen years old. He was almost eighteen. It felt unbelievable to Tim Drake, the idea of finally being an adult.

Well, in the eyes of the law anyway. He'd done things few adults had done before he could shave.

Still, it felt good. He was moving from rooftop to rooftop with ease and confidence. The night of Gotham seemed alive: Even after another alien invasion.

He leaped from one building to another, gliding on his cape wings. The rush of gravity and the wind through his hair tore a laugh from his mouth. He landed on a rooftop, and perched on the edge of the building like the bird that was his namesake.

"Be it ever so humble," he laughed. As much as he loved his Titans, he had missed his city.

"Help, help! Somebody, please help!" A woman's shouts filled the air. Red Robin looked down at a nearby alley: A woman in white was being menaced by two thugs. Red Robin grinned.

"Hero time," he pronounced. He fired his grapnel at a fire escape as he leaped from the roof, gliding down fast. He dove, folding his wings in a stoop, and rushed at the two thugs. He flared out his cape at the last moment, reaching out to grasp the heads of the two thugs. He slammed them together, both huge men collapsing with groans of pain, as Red Robin gracefully flipped over their heads and landed between them and the woman.

"That oughtta even the odds," Red Robin spoke, full of confidence. The woman behind him chuckled.

"Not really, Bird Boy!" She cried. Tim looked over his shoulder-Caught sight of a white face, a mallet-!

The blow sent him right to the asphalt, his nerves on fire and going numb from pain. He twitched, trying to find feeling in his limbs. Over him, a familiar white, demonic face loomed. The Joker chuckled, his red eyes almost glowing in the night.

"A bird in the hand," the Clown Prince observed, his teeth shining like knives. Harley sidled up next to him, showing mock concern.

"Aw, Puddin'! I didn't hit him hard enough." She hefted up her mallet as Joker shrugged.

"Well sweetie, if at first you don't succeed..."

Move, Tim commanded his limbs, his heart beating in panic, his vision shrinking and going dark. Move, move, MOVE!

He couldn't... But someone else did. Joker and Harley, seeing something overhead and scattering before it hit with a deafening BOOM!

"What in the hell-?!" The Joker cried. He pulled his gun and began firing as Harley screamed. A dark figure, blurred and indistinct, filled his vision.

* * *

He couldn't remember much after that. Not until freezing cold water was splashed in his face. Tim coughed, his body aching and sore. His keen mind got back into control, and he formed the picture of his surroundings:

An empty, run down apartment. A flickering lightbulb buzzing over his head, while a train went by. And standing over him, a man in black body armor. The man's features were hidden by the darkness, as he lowered an empty bucket.

"Took you long enough," the man scoffed. "If you got caught so easily, they should have kept the training wheels on for a bit longer."

The man's voice was muffled and slightly distorted. But that didn't mean Tim didn't want to punch him any less.

"Who are you?" He croaked. "What did you-?"

"I saved your life, Drake," the man spat, and Tim froze in horror, "try being a little grateful, huh?"

"I-I don't-Who is-?"

The man shook his head. "He really was scraping the bottle of the barrel for you, huh? No wonder he got Brown, and that little brat." He sighed. "But... Even if you are a cheap copy of me... No one deserves..." Here the man's voice became rough with hatred, "him."

Tim stared harder. "... Who are you?" He asked again. The man chuckled and stepped into the light.

He wore a blood red helmet with white lensed eyes, shaped to resemble a skull. A bone white bandolier covered hus chest, and in the middle of it burned a red X symbol over his heart. A ragged gray trenchcoat, like a funeral shroud, swung out behind him.

"Me? I'm a dead man... Back for revenge," he hissed. "Tell your boss... The Red Hood is back in town."

He leaped out the nearby window. Tim managed to get to his feet and stagger after, trying to see him... But the Red Hood had vanished without a trace. Tim shook his head. He tapped his earpiece.

"Red Robin to Oracle... We've got a problem..."

* * *

 **And in this timeline, no Return of the Joker... At least as you know it.**


	17. Chapter 17

**_A Little Less Conversation, a Little More Action Please_**

 _A DCAU Plus fanfiction project_

 _This is set during the Justice League episode "The Brave and the Bold" and is written by Scriviner and myself._

* * *

 **Eddie: A New Leaf**

* * *

"You know, something Bruce?" Eddie asked, lounging back on the deck chair poolside. He was in his trademarked green suit and tie, with a tastefully embroidered question mark. Behind him, soft music still played while his party guests yelled and screamed in delight as nerf murder weapons "took out" his guests to their obvious glee.

"What's the Eddie?" Bruce Wayne asked, his voice nonchalant, lounging back on his own chair and sipping what appeared to be a Martini, but Eddie knew for a fact was just club soda. Bruce Wayne was actually a teetotaler. Who could've guessed, right? Eddie probably could've, but it hadn't occurred to him to really look into it until he started actually hanging out with his fellow billionaire.

"You get me." Eddie replied with obvious satisfaction, munching on his popcorn.

Bruce gave Eddie one of his patented 'I'm very confused' looks... it was actually a masterwork of deception. It looked like someone thinking, but there was an air of desperate, oblivious cluelessness that was so obviously communicated as to be the point. Basically, Bruce had managed to figure out a way to look like he was pretending to know what he was doing while actually having no clue... but the clueless idiocy was just a mask the man wore. Eddie had spent enough time around Bruce, understood his little tells and gestures enough that he knew perfectly well that Bruce was not as stupid as he appeared.

To be fair, concussed shitzus were not as stupid as Bruce could manage to appear. Eddie had to bow to the man's acting talent.

"I'm not sure what you mean by that, Eddie." Bruce finally admitted, his voice bluff and jovial, but quite curious.

"This," Eddie said gesturing vaguely between the two of them. "Thiiiiiis. You, me, hanging out by the pool, watching those ninnyhammers inside my ludicrously expensive abode running around like headless chickens. While mercenaries shoot them with nerf darts."

"I'm still not sure what you're getting at."

"Companionship, Bruce! Companionship! The camaraderie of an intellectual peer! Well," Eddie made vague gestures with his popcorn, offering it to Bruce, "As those are actually in limited supply, then at least someone whose company I don't despise and who I actually find pleasant to be around."

Bruce raised a skeptical eyebrow and took some of the popcorn. "I probably fall in the latter category?"

"Well, no offense, Bruce. But you're no Lex Luthor."

"None taken." Bruce gave a pleasant, cheerful laugh that had a hard edge to it. "Thank goodness that I'm not Lex."

"Oh, certainly, my friend. Certainly. I couldn't possibly imagine doing this with Lex. We'd be too busy engaging in a futile bout of intellectual one-up-manship that he's far too ill-equipped to engage in. You... I can just..." Eddie paused, looking for the right word. He then popped some more popcorn into his mouth and continued, "Be. I can just 'be' around you, Bruce. I find that refreshing."

"Uh... I'm happy to hear that, Eddie."

"So, I've actually been thinking that you're going to be one of the first people I'm going to tell."

"Tell me what?"

Eddie looked into the mansion once more and admitted out loud, "I've been thinking of settling down."

Bruce hurriedly covered up a coughing fit by taking a drink of his not-really-a-Martini. "That's... kind of surprising."

"Yes, yes... I admit the thought had come as a surprise to myself as well, but I have to admit, I'm not getting any younger..." Eddie shrugged.

"So, who's the lucky-?"

"I haven't actually proposed yet..." Eddie gave a self-depreciating smile. "I just wanted you to be the first to know that I was planning on it. You'll also be the first to know once I've actually done it."

"I'm... I'm touched, Eddie. I don't know what to say. Good luck?" He added uncertainly.

Eddie clapped him on the shoulder. "That's all you have to say, my good man."

* * *

As much as Barbara appreciated how her work as Oracle made the world a better place, she still enjoyed the times she got to go out into the field herself. And this opportunity seemed right up her alley.

Or rather, up the alley she was swinging down. She dropped down by Black Bat, who was studying a large, green box with purple question marks all over it. Barbara shook her head.

"A Riddler box? I was sure we'd gotten all of them when he cleaned up his act," she sighed. Cassandra shrugged, and handed over a note.

"Found," she said. Barbara examined it carefully, and opened it up. The letter inside was a cipher, random letters forming an incomprehensible jumble. Barbara hummed, tapping the side of her cheek.

"What is it?" Cassandra asked, tilting her head.

"... A Vigenere cipher," Barbara pronounced. "It uses one word as a key to unlock it. We just need to find what that it is..."

Cassandra nodded, not really understanding but pretending she did. Barbara knelt down to check the box. She pressed the sides of the puzzle box, and it collapsed. It revealed a small heart-shaped letter, with 'Romance' in the center. Barbara raised an eyebrow, and pulled out a pen. She scribbled on the letter, using it as a key. She grimaced, then tried "Romantic". She smiled.

"That's got it!" Barbara nodded and looked up at Cass. "We've got an address!"

"Trap?" Cass asked.

"Possibly," Barbara said. She hummed. "I'll go in first. But we'll get the cops, too. You just cover me."

"Got it," Cass said with a nod. Barbara frowned deeply.

If Riddler had gone back to his old tricks, he was doing it in a very strange way. And it would be such a blow to Bruce: One of his Rogues actually reforming, becoming better, might be going back to crime. Rather than, at worst, an annoyance.

The address was a penthouse suite in the old financial quarter of Gotham. Barbara swung in through the window, batarangs at the ready. The lights flipped on, revealing...

"Edward Nygma," Barbara growled. "You've got a lot of... Nerve?"

Her anger was interrupted as she took in the scene. Edward Nygma was smiling warmly, dressed to the nines in a nice dark green suit that did bring out his eyes. He was standing by an oven, a delicious lobster and steak dinner on a serving plate. A small table with a white tablecloth stood nearby, with two comfortable chairs on either side and an elegant candle set burning in the center. A piano concerto by Mozart was playing softly in the background.

"Oh! You solved it! Far faster than I anticipated, good!" Edward nodded, and set the food down. "I'm glad you came in your finest. The black really suits you better than the gray and blue-"

"Nygma, what in the-?" Barbara tried. Edward held his hand up, smiling warmly.

"Uh uh uh! Please, call me Eddie."

"Okay, _Eddie,_ what is this all about?" Barbara asked, unamused as she rested her hands on her hips. Edward sighed, and rubbed his forehead.

"I suppose it is out of the blue so I don't blame you for being confused. Not your fault," he said. He smiled, walked up and reached to take her hands. Barbara cringed in confusion.

"Uh, Eddie-?"

"I'm just going to come right out and say it," he said. "I've been thinking of settling down. But honestly, traditional romance was never going to be the route for me. A woman who can keep up- _That's_ what I need! And in all my years, I've never met a woman as resourceful, intelligent or determined as you! So," and here Eddie went down on one knee and held up a small black box, opening it to reveal a diamond ring.

"What do you say?" Eddie asked, "will you marry me? Have super intelligent genius babies with me?"

Barbara's jaw dropped. "Uhhh..."

The door was busted down. Commissioner Gordon, along with Harvey Bullock and several other cops, stormed in with their guns drawn.

"FREEZE NYGMA! You... Uh..." Gordon lowered his gun, looking on in utter disbelief. The rest of his officers followed suit.

Edward glared.

"Could you _have worse timing?"_ He demanded.

Barbara immediately wished this was some kind of elaborate death trap. One that would kill her _right now._

"It's okay, Commissioner," Batgirl immediately said, holding up a hand. "Put the guns down."

Harvey Bullock was already trying not to laugh himself sick. Batgirl sighed and rubbed her forehead. She pulled Eddie up to his feet, and closed the box.

"Look, Eddie... I'm really, _really_ flattered but I'm already involved with someone," Batgirl said. Eddie frowned.

"Oh? Who? Not _Nightwing,_ I hope? Or worse," and here Eddie shuddered, " _Batman."  
_  
"Yeah, that's just _wrong,"_ Renee Montoya said. Batgirl looked heavenward for some divine help. None forthcoming, she held in a groan.

" _No,_ it's not Batman! Or Nightwing!" She insisted.

Eddie nodded with a big smile. "Good. You deserve better! Like me!"

"Eddie, please," Batgirl said, "we're _enemies._ Not even friends! We need an actual relationship! And I'm involved in one already, so I'm very sorry, but no."

Eddie sighed. He tossed the ring box aside and shrugged. "Oh well! First choice rarely works out. Still, I'm glad you let me down gently." He glanced over at the cops. "Sort of."

The cops had the good grace to look embarrassed. Eddie beamed.

"I'll try my next choice: Batman!"

Batgirl blinked.

"But... He's a man?"

Eddie shrugged.

"Nobody's perfect."

* * *

 **As it turns out, in the DCAU comics Eddie Nygma became a tech billionaire. So that's what we'll be using for this timeline.**


	18. Chapter 18

**_A Little Less Conversation, a Little More Action Please_**

 _A DCAU Plus fanfiction project_

* * *

 **Barbara: Late Night Calls**

* * *

"Babs! Babs! It's urgent! Are you there?" The call came in over her 'Emergency' comm station waking her up from a sleep that she'd only just barely managed to enter barely an hour ago.

She glared at the wall clock, noting that it was just after 3am.

She sighed, clicking the communicator on. "I'm here, Ted. What's the matter?" He was using her real name. Normally he'd have used her call sign. Whatever this was had him spooked.

"It's about the Xenothium reactor." His voice was brisk and sounded very worried. She suspected he'd been chugging Soder Colas all night and likely hadn't slept yet.

"The what now?" She asked, trying to remember what he was referring to specifically.

"The compact power supply blueprints you sent me to test for use as a power source for my Beetle Morpher?"

"Oh. Oh, yes. Sorry, I had a long night." She replied blinking rapidly and waiting for her brain to actually come entirely back online.

"Same here." He admitted. "Um, anyway, I was working on integrating it into the Morph system to adapt some additional functions, you know, like flight and weapons and the like..."

She was now fully awake and more aware. She walked to the kitchen to pour herself a cup of coffee as she asked. "Did something go wrong?"

"Yes. Sort of. Did you say that this reactor design was being used with an existing power suit system?"

"That's right-" She began to reply, but he cut her off hurriedly.

"Is this something in current use right now?"

"Why do you ask?"

"I noticed something while I was testing it on my setup. I was working on a human-machine brain interface and it was monitoring- well, long story short I had a close eye on my brain functions while I was in a suit with a Xenothium reactor."

"And?" She prompted gently, otherwise he might start telling her more about the suit and while that would be very... interesting... whatever caused him to call this in as an emergency wasn't trivial.

"Anyway, whenever the reactor would be running, activity in my hypothalamus would be sluggish and amygdal response would be ramped up. Just having the thing functional at my waist level was enough to completely throw off my brain chemistry."

Babs gasped. "Wait... so someone wearing a Xenothium powered suit would be subject to alterations in how they think?"

Ted continued. "Yes. Exactly, the changes would-"

"Let me guess... tendency towards depression... possible violent rages?"

"Oh geez. So, I was right! Batman has this on his suit, doesn't he?!"

"Er... wait, what?"

"Oh, come on, Babs. It's pretty obvious Batman's got issues... but now we know it comes from his equipment! If you get him out of-"

"No, no, no. It's someone else who's been wearing the suit. Have you heard of Red X?"

"... isn't that the kid in Jump City?"

"That's the one."

"Uh... so Batman isn't suffering from Xethonium induced violent rages and depression?"

"No, that's all him."

"... well, my face is red. Um... don't tell Batman what I said about-"

"My lips are sealed, Ted."

"Thank you."

"Still, I'll let Red X know about what his suit is doing to him. Thanks for letting me know about this."

"Anytime, Babs."

She smiled. "Are we still on for tomorrow... er... I guess its tonight now..."

"Oh, yeah. You know it."

* * *

 **Recovering from some shit. Thought you might like some story.**


	19. Chapter 19

**_A Little Less Conversation, a Little More Action Please_**

A DCAU Plus fanfiction project

 _This adventure begins just after and during the Justice League three-parter "Starcrossed". Go watch it, it's awesome._

* * *

 **Cassandra**

* * *

It was still perfectly preserved in her mind. Every detail crystal clear as though engraved onto her brain. Cassandra remembered part of Tim's lectures on memory and how it worked, but it wasn't possible to think hard on that right now.

Not with the results playing through her mind as she sat by Stephanie's bedside. Her heartbeat slow, as evidenced by the slow beeps of the machines hooked up to her.

* * *

 ** _Two weeks ago..._**

* * *

Shayera's people, the Thanagarians, had arrived with a massive force. They claimed they were here to protect the Earth from the Gordanians, who had tried to destroy Washington DC. They had failed, and were now building a giant shield generator in the Arabian peninsula to protect the Earth.

Batman had found out it was a lie though. The Thanagarians had immediately declared martial law, taken the Justice League prisoner, and disable all their weapons and technology.

Earth was helpless.

Stephanie and Cass knew that if any of them were still alive, the Justice League members would make it to Wayne Manor. So they went there to wait. And as expected, the heroes had shown up.

They'd all made it to the manor in pairs. Cass and Stephanie had had a shorter trip, and had the Cave prepped the moment Bruce and Diana arrived.

Cass had been getting the weapons together, as Stephanie worked the Batcomputer with Barbara, when the two came down the stairs. Bruce was all business, as was Diana, but they were standing a bit further apart from eachother than usual. She had analyzed them carefully, and blushed at the realization. Bruce had just shot her a simple, "focus on the mission" look while Diana gave her a gentle, warm smile.

"Report," Bruce said tersely. Barbara and Stephanie turned from the Bat Computer, Stephanie giving Bruce a quick hug. He started, but didn't stop her.

"I'm glad you're not dead," she said firmly. Bruce managed a slight nod to her, and a slightly awkward pat to her shoulder. Stephanie broke away, and gave the same hug to a more accepting Diana. "You too," she said.

"We're all right, Little Sister, have no fear," Diana said kindly.

Barbara hid her amusement and got on with answering Bruce's order: "All military communications and command and control systems have been shut down. A few of the backup comms systems are functioning: Switching through the new quantum entanglement systems or hidden hardlines, but there isn't much that can be done with their jammers turning off every weapon, aircraft and vehicle."

"It's no surprise," Bruce said, his voice dipping into a rougher growl than usual, "the Watchtower has the ability to tap into any communications system on the planet. Shayera probably recorded it all for the Thanagarian Forces."

"Then she...?" Stephanie began, looking heartbroken. Bruce gave her a hard look. The blonde slowly nodded, looking aside. "Sorry."

"She fooled all of us. Nothing to be sorry for," Diana growled, sounding much like Bruce as she squeezed Stephanie's shoulder comfortingly. Cass walked over, feeling betrayed but hiding it. She could tell Bruce felt just as hurt, just as angry, but they had a bigger problem. So she stood beside him as he looked over the readouts on the computer.

"What about Dick? The Titans?" Bruce asked. Barbara shook her head, biting her lower lip.

"They launched on a mission to Tamaran just before the Gordanians showed up. Apparently trouble with Blackfire again."

"What a coincidence," Bruce growled. Diana nodded.

"The Thanagarians wanted anyone who could tell something different from their account out of the picture... Have you been able to contact them?" Diana asked urgently. Barbara shook her head, looking equally anxious.

"Not since their last communication about arriving on Tamaran," she said. "It's probably the jammers. It has to be-"

"What about the New Teen Titans?" Bruce asked, interrupting Barbara. It was clear though that Dick's possible death was weighing on him, heavily. He was forcing himself past his fear. Cass stayed just as businesslike. It was what he needed.

Barbara shook her head. "They were seized the moment the Thanagarians declared martial law," she said. "No word on where they are."

"Keep trying," Bruce stated. "Any scrap of information is vital, if we're going to find out what the Thanagarians really want."

"I guess they didn't just tell you their evil plan, huh," Stephanie said, trying to lighten the mood a little. Diana stroked her hair as Bruce barely paid Stephanie any heed. "That would make things easier."

Bruce had Stephanie and Cassandra begin prepping the various vehicles in the cave, switching out their electronics with new ones that hopefully the Thanagarians couldn't shut down. Steph took to this with a determined expression, but it was clear how the situation was weighing on her. Cass reached out and hugged her, knowing physical contact was how she best expressed things. Stephanie hugged her back.

"We will get through this. Have hope," Cass insisted. Stephanie smiled back.

It was about this time the rest of the Leaguers made it. They gathered around the Bat Computer, not much new information being revealed. Steph and Cass gathered with them, having finished the prepping.

Just in time for Shayera Hol to appear to them, and tell them what her people were actually planning.

To destroy their world in order to save their own. The giant "shield generator" in the desert was going to collapse their world into a wormhole.

Cass didn't understand the physics behind it, and she didn't need to. It was bad, and they would stop it.

What she did understand was how everyone else felt about Shayera. John Stewart had wanted to say things to her. So many things. Cass? Cass could see the anguish in the Thanagarian woman: She looked like the others. She looked betrayed.

She hadn't been able to meet their eyes. None of them. Before she flew away. She was suffering, just as much as they were. And a small, mean part of Cass was fine with that. The rest of her felt sadness.

After that, a Thanagarian strike force had attacked the manor. Smashing through her home. _Their_ home. Hurting Alfred. Invading the Cave.

Cass had hurt the alien warriors _very badly_ for that. It made her feel somewhat better.

The plan was made. Batman, Flash, and J'Onn would fly the Thanagarian ship to the Watchtower to retake it. Superman, Diana and Green Lantern would attack the command ship to disable the shield around the generator. And she and Robin-

"You're making us stay here?!" Robin demanded, as Batman informed her in the sitting room of the Manor. Batman's eyes narrowed at her. J'onn and Flash looked on, the tension between hero and sidekick nearly tangible.

"It's too dangerous-" Batman began, but Stephanie interrupted.

"The entire _fucking world is at stake!"_ Robin snarled. "And you need all the help you can get!"

"Language," Alfred muttered, out of habit, as he continued to sweep up broken glass. Batman was unmoved.

"You're not experienced enough, you need to stay here," he stated. Stephanie glared death at him.

"It's _my world too!_ And I am _not staying here-!"  
_  
"This isn't negotiable!" Batman growled.

"The hell it is!" Robin shot back. J'onn rested a hand on Stephanie's shoulder.

"If we fail, we need others to carry on the fight," he said. Robin laughed mockingly, holding back tears.

"If you _fail,_ we're _all dead._ And if I'm not good enough to come along, then what can _I_ do?!" Robin glared hatefully up at Bruce. "If we're so _inexperienced,_ what are we going to-?!"

"Robin," Cass said softly, gripping Stephanie's other shoulder. The blonde turned and glared at her dearest friend, holding back tears. "Dick. Tim. Barbara. He needs to think we safe."

Batman's faced remained unchanged. Flash rubbed the back of his head.

"... She's still got a point, Bats," the scarlet speedster pointed out. "I mean, if we fail we're all-"

Batman clenched his fists.

"I'll make my own command decisions about _my_ sidekicks myself, thank you," he gritted out, glaring at Flash. The speedster shut up. He turned and headed out, Flash and J'onn following. Flash lingered just a bit, and gave Stephanie a smile. She glared back, and he quickly retreated.

"... I'll be in the Cave," Stephanie stated, turning and heading for the study. Cass looked at Alfred. He sighed and shook his head as he continued to sweep up broken glass.

"If I can't stop him, what makes you think I can stop her? Or you?" He asked.

Cass smiled at Alfred. She hugged him, and lifted up her mask long enough to kiss him on the cheek. He blushed and smiled back at her as she ran after Stephanie.

Ten minutes later, after the Thanagarian ship had lifted off with Batman, J'onn, and Flash aboard, the Batwing rocketed out of the Batcave. Robin was at the controls, as Cass sat backseat. Along with their usual munitions, Stephanie had swiped every weapon from the Cave's trophy room: From Mister Freeze's freeze gun to the Joker's exploding rubber chickens.

The radio crackled, and Barbara's voice came through loud and clear.

" _You know, I could just set the autopilot to bring you back,"_ Barbara stated. Robin nodded.

"Yeah. You could," she said. Barbara sighed.

" _So why shouldm't I?"_ She asked.

"Because we'll need your help to draw as much attention away from the shield generator as possible?" Stephanie pointed out. Cass could tell Oracle was smirking over the radio.

" _Fair enough. I've got the biggest concentration of hawk forces around the command ship. I'll see if I can spoof their systems enough for you guys to get in there."  
_  
"Just call me Red Five, standing by," Stephanie replied with a grin, tugging the joystick and shooting off across the sky. Stephanie was inventive, creative, and determined, but she didn't take to martial arts like Cass. She wasn't bad, but she would never have quite the same ease of movement.

Yet here, in the air, Stephanie seemed completely at ease. Like Cass herself in a fight. Like a bird stretching their wings to take off.

"You didn't have to come, you know," Stephanie said.

"Did," Cass said stubbornly. "Like you."

Stephanie laughed softly. "All right... Let's ID4 these winged bastards," she said.

* * *

 ** _TO BE CONTINUED..._**


	20. Chapter 20

**_A Little Less Conversation, a Little More Action Please_**

A DCAU Plus fanfiction project

 _This adventure begins just after and during the Justice League three-parter "Starcrossed". Go watch it, it's awesome._

* * *

 **Cassandra**

* * *

 _Post "Starcrossed"_

She heard Tim enter the room. She didn't look back at him. He just sat on the nearby chair. The beeps of the machine filled the still air in the dark room. Tim reached out for her hand. She took it, and managed to give him a smile. He smiled back, awkward but kind.

They returned to their silent vigil over the blonde.

* * *

 ** _Two weeks ago..._**

* * *

This wasn't the first time Stephanie had flown the Bat Wing: Far from it. She'd had several thousand hours of simulator and training flights. She had also flown the Javelin up to and down from the Watchtower.

It was, however, her first time flying it into actual combat. So it was natural for her to be nervous. Cass could tell.

Yet she put that nervousness aside, putting on a brave face for Cass. Even knowing she could tell she was really scared.

"Okay... Okay... We're below their radar... I think? Oracle, what have you got?" Stephanie asked over the comms. The lights of the city passed beneath them, slipping away as the Bat Wing made its way to Metropolis. The Thanagarian command ship was hovering over it, flights of fighters flying escort like a swarm of angry bees. Energy blasts, green and red, flashed through the sky. The moon was bright and shining overhead. Cass wondered if it was a good omen.

" _I'm tapping any satellites I can get control over to feed confusing signals back into their sensor systems, but only the state of the art STAR Labs and Kord-Tech based systems are doing anything,"_ Barbara responded. " _I think your best bet is just to open up with the SDM Rack launcher and then run like hell."_

 _"_

S... Dee... Em?" Cass sounded out.

"Small Diameter Missile," Stephanie explained. "Lots of little nasty fireworks to light up these bird brains... Nonlethally, right?"

" _In theory, they should just generate an EMP pulse that will knock out their systems,"_ Barbara confirmed. " _And they built their ships tough and survivable."  
_  
"How close do we have to get to use it without them just shutting off all our missiles?" Stephanie asked. Oracle hummed.

" _... Within 800 feet,"_ she said. Stephanie's eyes narrowed, and Cass could hear the lie in Oracle's voice.

"Barbara!"

" _Fine. 250 feet, that's the best I can give you,"_ Oracle said. " _Would you like to know the odds of you getting that close without being shot down?!"  
_  
"You really need to stop setting me up for those lines, Barbara," Stephanie said. She pitched the Bat Wing down, and increased their speed. "Never tell me the odds."

" _Stephanie, you can't just-!"  
_  
"If I don't do anything, the world is going to die!" Stephanie shot back. "So give us the best chance to avoid dying!"

Barbara audibly ground her teeth. Alfred had told her about that repeatedly.

" _Fine... I've got the satellites ready to go. Launch the decoy drones when I tell you: I'll do the rest!"  
_  
Cass gripped the sides of the aircraft as Stephanie hit the afterburners. Outside, the drones detached from the plane, their rocket motors glowing brightly and carrying them off. The clouds of Hawk fighters reacted like a startled flock of birds, immediately swarming in angry clouds for the drones.

Robin brought herself up in a long arc, and flew right behind one of the drones. She then peeled off, breaking away from it to hide behind another drone's signals.

A flash of light illuminated the sky.

" _That's one drone down,"_ Barbara said. Another flash of light. " _Two... Three..."  
_  
The command ship loomed closer and closer. Stephanie dropped down, tilting the Bat Wing onto its side to fly between buildings just over the city street. Cass tightened her grip on the aircraft console, useless to her. The gee forces weren't great to feel, but then her suit had a G-compensation system.

" _You're got four of them on your six,"_ Barbara said. " _They're getting weapons lock!"  
_  
"Yeah, the loud angry buzzing sound was a good hint!" Robin replied. She hit the reverse thrust and flipped the Bat Wing backwards, aerodynamics sending the plane spinning like a stone in the air. The four fighters flew by, and Stephanie quickly regained control. Cass tightened her grip, almost bending the metal of the frame.

"Nnngh... Didn't... Expect... That... Did you?!" Stephanie snarled, gunning the engines and regaining equilibrium. The Hawk fighters were still in formation: Even though Cass was no expert on aerial combat, some things were universal and gave away the story:

The commander of these fighters was inexperienced. Something that was proved when Stephanie pulled the trigger and opened fire with the cannons. The depleted uranium rounds, accelerated by a Wayne-Tech miniature rail gun, blew through the alien fighters like they were made of tin foil. Two fighters went down, while the other two broke formation in panic. Stephanie calmly pulled the joystick around, took aim, and fired again. Another fighter fell and the last pulled around. Trying to fire again, get its guns on the Bat Wing.

Stephanie was faster, and the last fighter dropped. Stephanie broke, resuming her path for the command ship. More fighters screamed for them, screening the command ship like furious crows. Stephanie gritted her teeth, the tension tight in her shoulders.

Cass knew what was going through her mind, even without direct sight on her: _I killed... I've taken lives... I'm going to take more...  
_  
"Oracle, I can't get through the fighter screen, it's too thick," Robin reported, deathly calm. "I'm going to have to shoot it off early! Like Dick would!"

Even in the midst of all this, she could still make a lewd joke. The swarm of fighters drew in closer around them, as though filled with more stars. So many of them... It was a wonder they'd made it this far...

" _You'll have no weapons left!"_ Barbara warned.

"I've still got Cass and my wit," she said. She flew hard and fast, bobbing and weaving. Energy blasts filled the air around them, and Stephanie worked the controls like a woman possessed.

" _Stephanie! Stephanie, fall back! You've done enough! You've done-!"  
_  
"Let's see what a runaway defense spending budget can do!" Stephanie cried. Targeting cursors appeared all over the heads up display, and Stephanie pulled the trigger.

As Cass would later find out, the SDM, or Small Diameter Missile, was an experimental micro-missile launcher Wayne Tech was developing for the US Air Force. As Stephanie called it, it was an attempt to transform something called the Itano Circus from fiction into reality.

The missile launch bays held six of the SDM launchers, each with a hundred of the miniature missiles. And they erupted from the munitions bays like fireworks. Hundreds of SDMs screamed through the air, advanced quantum computing directing them for their targets. Each one was powered by a micro fusion battery, which doubled as the warhead. Surrounding the fusion cell were spheres of tungsten, heating up from the rocket exhaust.

They glowed white hot, and in the last nanoseconds of their life, their sophisticated and expendable computer systems guided them close enough to their targets to do damage. Then, each went up like a miniature sun.

The sky was filled with their blasts, each one taking a Thanagarian fighter with them. Cass closed her eyes tightly as Stephanie brought the Bat Wing up, riding the heat in the natural direction it sought: Up. This was the only thing that saved them from being cooked, as the Bat Wing flew high over the explosions.

The radio crackled.

"- _bin! Black Bat! ROBIN! BLACK BAT!"  
_  
"We're okay! A little cooked, but we're fine!" Stephanie said, breathing hard. She brought the fighter down, heading for the command ship. They were close enough they could see the blue form of Superman and the green form of Green Lantern blasting away at the Thanagarians still fighting.

"... Successful test," Cass observed. Stephanie nodded, still detached.

"Mmhm... Where's... Where's Wonder Woman?"

" _She went into the ship itself,"_ Oracle said.

"Then that's where we're going!" Robin said. She dove for the top of the command ship, reversing her thrusters. She made a rough landing on the top of the vessel. She popped the canopy, and she made to get out. Cass reached out and squeezed her shoulder. Robin looked over at her.

"... All right?" Cass asked. Stephanie took a deep breath, trying to calm herself. Trying to focus.

Trying not to think about the fact she may have just killed a whole lot of people.

"... I'll be fine... As soon as the world is saved," Stephanie managed. Cass nodded back. She leaped out of the plane, and punched a Thanagarian Guard who had been trying to charge the plane. Temple, neck, stomach: He went down. More followed. Robin leaped out after her, wielding Mr. Freeze's Freeze Gun. They charged into the fight.

* * *

 _ **TO BE CONTINUED...**_


	21. Chapter 21

**_A Little Less Conversation, a Little More Action Please_**

A DCAU Plus fanfiction project

 _This adventure begins just after and during the Justice League three-parter "Starcrossed". Go watch it, it's awesome._

* * *

 **Cassandra**

 _ **Two weeks ago...**_

* * *

The Thanagarian corridors were wide and high vaulted, allowing them to fly easily. There was, however, a catch to this. One that Cass easily exploited, as she ran up the bulkheads and leaped back and forth between them. Catching the Thanagarians in her blows, slamming them into one another, and bashing them with their own Nth metal weapons. She flipped through the air, slamming her weapons onto two guard's hard helmets, braining them. Using the leverage from the maces, she flipped over them and rammed her feet into another Thanagarian's bare belly.

Behind her, Robin was blasting away with Mister Freeze's gun, freezing Thanagarian limbs in blocks of ice. She pinned one to the wall with a blast, then threw a flashbang into the face of two others. It went off, making them stagger back. Unaffected thanks to her mask's lenses and her earbuds, Robin iced them to the deck and kept running.

" _Okay... It's rough, but based on the scans I can get you're only a hundred meters away from the bridge,"_ Barbara told them over their earbuds. Cass threw one of her maces into the chest of another Thanagarian, and whipped herself around like a top. This built enough momentum to let her nail another Hawk in the groin. He howled in pain, a howl Cass cut off with a swing of the mace.

"That's great," Robin said, throwing a bolo around another Thanagarian and pinning her wings to her back. She fell out of the air and slammed into the deck, but got back up and charged with an axe. Robin ducked under the swing, and jumped over the next, flipping over her. The warrior turned around, smirking as she burst out of the wires with her enhanced strength.

"What was _that_?!" She scoffed. She then twitched and shuddered as the taser went off, dropping her.

"That," Robin snarked. She looked over at Cass, and touched her earbud. "Can anyone else get in?"

" _There's too much interference. You drew a lot of attention off S, Wonder Woman and GL, but not enough,"_ Barbara said. She hummed. " _How far away are you from the jet?"  
_  
"Five hundred paces," Cass said. She leaped into a group of five more Thanagarians, busting through them with some difficulty.

" _You guys had better duck and cover,"_ Barbara stated. Stephanie let loose a batarang at a nearby Thanagarian: He was a big one, with a large beard and even larger muscles. He was spreading his wings wide, to be intimidating: And it was rather effective. The weapon burst into a bright light and bang, but the large warrior powered through. Robin barely rolled out of the way of the huge alien's mace, which shattered the deck plating underneath them like glass. He stood up and laughed.

"Two children?! That's the best this puny planet can muster?" He guffawed. He swung his mace again, and Robin stumbled backwards.

"Gah! Do you not know that Superman is outside? Doing actual hard work? You're not even worth his time!"

The Thanagarian chuckled, and feinted. Robin managed to dodge the follow up strike, but the rebound from the strike sent her tumbling into the wall.

"Guh," Stephanie grumbled. The Thanagarian towered over her, raising his mace.

"Pity... You had spirit, little one," he said. Stephanie quickly threw down a smoke bomb, the gas billowing out. The Thanagarian laughed, inhaling a few lungfuls, before he flapped his wings and blew it away.

"Smoke and tricks, little one! Nothing that...!"

It was some kind of monster, a bird, screaming and roaring at him that emerged from the smoke. Burning eyes and deafening shrieks. The Thanagarian gasped in horror, staggering back.

"N-No... No... NO! GET AWAY! GET AWAY!"

His limbs were frozen in place by the ice gun, leaving him screaming. Robin sighed behind her gas mask. She rushed past the raving warrior, who even now was crying and shrieking like a disturbed child.

"Good to know this stuff works on aliens, too," Robin mumbled, feeling a bit disgusted with herself. "Barbara, what did you mean by that duck and cov-?"

The bulkheads of the ship shook around them, as something exploded some five hundred feet behind them. Stephanie staggered, barely being caught by Cass. Robin looked up at Cass, and she sighed.

"... Oracle, did you just blow up the Bat-Wing?"

 _"Bruce has plenty more,"_ Barbara said dismissively. Stephanie groaned.

"How are we supposed to get home?!"

"Jump. Land carefully," Black Bat stated. Stephanie laughed.

"Glad to know your sense of humor is still intact," she observed. She looked around. "Everybody's suddenly got someplace better to be."

" _Well, Wonder Woman did just find a way in,"_ Barbara said, a bit smugly. Robin grinned.

"Let's not waste it then! Come on!"

* * *

The bridge wasn't too hard to get to. Cass was able to handle most of the stragglers... Yet it seemed too easy. A thought she shared with Stephanie. Robin nodded in agreement.

"Well, they aren't stupid," she said. She hummed thoughtfully as they made it to a long corridor. At the end was a pair of massive sliding doors: Their obvious destination. Stephanie pulled out a baratang, and threw it straight ahead. In an instant, lasers arced across the gray corridor, blasting the batarang into smoking shards. Shards that fell on the deck in front of them, clinking loudly against the grate. Stephanie nodded.

"Yeah, okay. Definitely not stupid," she said. She sighed. "We'd have had an easier time going in through the front! From the outside!"

"Why put bridge in front? Spaceship," Cass asked, as Stephanie began rummaging through her large backpack. "Vulnerable. Should be deep inside."

"I don't know, aliens can be so _dumb_ sometimes," Stephanie huffed. "Like J'onn thinking we don't _know_ he's the one always stealing Chocos-Aha!" She pulled out a set of razor sharp playing cards. "Okay..." She threw one through the corridor, and as before the lasers fired: But now Cass was able to discern a pattern. Each shot was in a straight line at varying heights, but regular intervals along the corridor. Stephanie kept throwing cards, lighting up the lasers. Each throw, she got a little further until one clattered in a smoking heap against the doors to the bridge themselves. Robin looked over at Black Bat, biting her lower lip.

"Think you can get through that?" She asked. Cass nodded. Robin grinned, and handed her a bag.

"Hang onto this. All right... And...!" She threw a card, lighting up every laser. "GO!"

Cassandra _leaped_ , going into a handspring from her landing and vaulting over the next laser. She kicked off the ceiling for the next series, wall running three steps before diving through the next gap. She immediately leaped, the sizzle of the lasers filling her ears as she tumbled, flipped, and somersaulted through the lazing field. She made it to the double doors, and clung to the ceiling to avoid the lasers. She pulled out the first item: A cutting laser torch. She fired it up and began to burn through.

It was actually managing to cut through the alien metal, but that wasn't the point. The point was to make the Thanagarians open the doors. And this they did, two guards charging out as the portal opened. Cass dropped down, using one of her 'borrowed' Nth-metal bludgeons to slam them both into the deck. She turned, just in time for another Thanagarian to charge her.

"DUCK!" Robin screamed, and Cass dropped down flat. A split second later, Robin screamed overhead, rockets roaring, as she slammed into the warrior and sent him and herself flying. Cass got up, and pulled the pins on the devices in the bag. She threw it and dove out of the way as more Thanagarians tried to attack: Just as the fear gas bombs went off.

The smoke filled the air, and the Thanagarian cries of anger and battle turned to screams and whimpers of terror. Cass quickly leaped through the smoke like a ghost, finding cowering Thanagarians and striking their nerve clusters hard. One by one, she dropped them all, finally reaching the large observation dome that surrounded half the bridge. Robin had made it to a computer terminal, and was already typing away. The Thanagarian she'd rammed into was slumped, unconscious, against the glass: Firefly's jetpack, burnt out and spent, smoking beside him.

"Okay... I've spent a minute on this and I just realized... I don't read Bird," Robin sighed. "It's all chickenscratch to me!" She grinned at Cassandra. Cassandra would have returned the gesture, but her mask prevented it from being seen.

" _Just put the interpreter module onto it,"_ Barbara said, in a long suffering tone. Stephanie pulled out another bat shaped device, and set it on the console. It beeped, which Cassandra assumed was a good thing.

" _All right... The shield control room... I've got it,"_ Oracle reported. " _I'm sending it to the others."  
_  
"Okay, and what are we supposed to do?" Robin demanded. "I mean, we could crash the ship now-"

" _Free the prisoners,"_ Oracle said. " _Shayera's one of them, but a lot of other heroes were taken captive. You need to get to them, quickly. Security forces are already converging on your location."  
_  
"Are you absolutely _sure_ we can't just crash the ship? Since you blew up _my plane,"_ Stephanie groused.

" _Bruce's plane,"_ Oracle reminded her. Stephanie huffed.

"I'm the one who did the maintenance on it! Who cleaned it! Who cuddled it and sang it bedtime songs!"

Cass stared. Robin winced.

"Forget I said that. Jail break it is!"

* * *

 _To be continued..._


End file.
